
e ■• d 





















l0* ••il% ^ 




» »« 







^ v ***** ^ aP v *j^k:* > 





©»* 



'bv 9 







» ^ : Ja®'. : /°- 










FOUR 



AMERICAN INVENTORS 



ROBERT FULTON SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

ELI WHITNEY THOMAS A. EDISON 



A BOOK FOR YOUNG AMERICANS 



BY 



FRANCES M. PERRY 



WERNER SCHOOL BOOK COMPANY 

NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON 



Tv>^ CoHta Htotivtu 

JAN. 11 1902 

,.Co»~moMT ektrv 
CLASS cv XXa No. 

I^tf / & 

COPY iX 



# 
* 



^W 



The Great Americans Series 



BIOGRAPHICAL STORIES 
OF GREAT AMERICANS 

For Young American Readers 
Edited by James Baldwin, Ph.D. 

Published in two forms, as follows: 
I. Biographical Booklets, one story to the 
booklet, flexible covers, at io cents each. 
II. "Four Great Americans" Series, four 
stories to the volume, cloth, at fifty cents 
each. 
Beautifully illustrated by portraits, maps and 
views. 

These Life Stories lay the foundation for 
the study of Biography and History; they 
stimulate a desire for further Historical Read- 
ing; they cultivate a taste for the Best Litera- 
ture; and by inspiring examples they teach 
Patriotism. 



Several volumes already published. Others in press. 



." : "-*; v CODPYRiCB£rJl301," 

liy WRUKKH SCHOOL. BOOK COMPANY 



R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY 
CHICAGO 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 
I. 
II. 
III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 



I. 
II. 
III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XL 



THE STORY OF ROBERT FULTON 



A Boy with Ideas 

Working Out Some of the Ideas 

The Young Artist 

The Artist Becomes an Engineer 

Experiments . 

Making the Steamboat . 

The Trial Voyage 

Success ..... 

Steamboats on the Hudson 

Other Interests 

His Work Ended .... 



THE STORY OF ELI WHITNEY 



Childhood 

Youth 

At Yale 

In Georgia 

The Opportunity . 

Making the Cotton Gin 

Great Expectations 

Misfortunes 

In the Courts 

Making Arms 

Last Years . 



PAGE 
I I 

14 
22 
28 

37 

42 

49 
55 
59 
64 
67 



73 
78 

84 
90 

95 
103 
no 

113 
118 
124 
128 



8 



CONTENTS 



THE STORY OF SAMUEL F. B. 

CHAPTER 

I. The Parsonage 

II. Early Influences 

III. College Life 

IV. Life in London 
V. Painting . . 

VI. Abroad Again . 

VII. An Important Voyage 

VIII. Years of Struggle . 

IX. Encouragement . ... 

X. Waiting at last Rewarded 

XI. The Telegraph 

XII. The Cable. 

XIII. The Inventor at Home 



MORSE 



THE STORY OF THOMAS A. EDISON 

I. Early Years ..... 

II. Youthful Business Ventures . 

III. Study . . 

IV. A Change of Business 
V. The Boy Telegraph Operator . 

VI. Telegrapher and Inventor 

VII. In Boston . 

VIII. Recognized as an Electrician 

IX. Inventor and Manufacturer 

X. "The Wizard of Menlo Park" 

XL Inventions ..... 

XII. At Orange, New Jersey . 



THE STORY OF 

ROBERT FULTON 




ROBERT FULTON 



ROBERT FULTON 

THE INVENTOR OF THE STEAMBOAT 



CHAPTER I 

A BOY WITH IDEAS 

The schoolmaster had left the high stool at his 
high desk and was walking down among the 
benches where the boys sat. Most of the pupils 
looked up to see what he would do. 

There was one who did not look up. That boy's 
curly head was bent over an old book in which he 
was drawing something. He was so busy that he 
seemed to have forgotten where he was. 

The master stopped beside his bench and looked 
over his spectacles severely at the boy, 
started quickly and held up his work for the tear 
to look at. His eyes were glowing with satis 
tion, and said as plainly as lips could say, ' ' ] 
not good? " 

The drawing was well done. It was so good 
that the master could not scold, but he though 
was his duty to teach the boy to do more us» 



i2 ROBERT FULTON 

things. He did not praise him, therefore, but said 
gravely, ' ' It would be better for thee, Robert, 
to spend thy time studying thy books." 

1 ' I know it, sir, but my head is so full of m) 
own ideas that there seems to be no room in it for 
ideas from books, " answered the boy. 

This is one of the stories that the schoolmates 
of Robert Fulton used to tell about him after he 
had become famous. It happened long ago in a 
little Quaker school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 
where Robert Fulton spent his schooldays. 

He was born on the fourteenth of November, 
1765, on a farm in the township of Little Britain, 
in Lancaster County. Mr. and Mrs. Fulton were 
quiet, modest people, and little dreamed that the 
name of the township would one day be changed 
in honor of their baby, who kicked and crowed in 
his old-fashioned, hooded cradle just like any ordi- 
nary baby. But the name was changed and the 
township where the great inventor was born is 
now called "Fulton." 

When Robert was less than a year old his father 
sold the farm and moved to Lancaster, the county 
seat. There Mr. Fulton died about two years 
later, and Mrs. Fulton was left with a small income 
to bring up her five young children. As Robert 



A BOY WITH IDEAS 13 

was the oldest boy he grew up with the under- 
standing that he must do something to support 
the family. 

His mother knew how to read and write, and she 
taught him at home with his sisters until he was 
eight years old. Then she sent him to school. 

His teacher thought him a dull pupil, but found 
him quick enough at everything except his lessons. 

One day the worthy man punished him by 
striking his hands with a ruler. This was no 
uncommon occurrence, but it made Robert angry 
and he said with spirit, ' ' Sir, I come here to have 
something beat into my head and not into my 
hand." 

At another time when asked why he came late 
to school, he held up a lead pencil and answered, 
" I have been to the smith's pounding out lead for 
this pencil, and it is a good one too." 

That was doing something useful, and it pleased 
the teacher. He praised Robert, and the boys 
begged him to make pencils for them. 

Out of school he was looked upon as unusually 
bright and promising. He was witty and good 
natured, and every one liked him. He was fond of 
visiting shops and talking with the men. He was 
a great pet among them and they not only 



i 4 ROBERT FULTON 

answered his questions, but sometimes let him use 
their tools. In that way he learned much more 
than most boys know about machinery and various 
trades. 



CHAPTER II 

WORKING OUT SOME OF THE IDEAS 

As Robert Fulton grew older he did better work 
at school. His quickness in numbers often sur- 
prised his teacher, and his school papers were 
always neat and beautiful. 

Still he found more to do out of school than in 
school. He spent much time drawing; and he 
improved in that art constantly, although he had 
no instruction in it. 

When he was eleven years old a terrible war 
broke out between the American colonies and 
England. A few of the colonists were loyal to the 
king, but many wanted a new and independent 
government. 

In Lancaster there were Tories, who took the 
king's part, Quakers, who thought war wicked, 
and patriots, who were ready to fight for liberty. 



WORKING OUT SOME OF THE IDEAS 15 

There was great excitement everywhere. British 
or colonial soldiers encamped in many of the towns. 
Men and boys went to war, leaving behind weeping 
wives, mothers, and sisters. 

Robert Fulton's father was dead, and he and his 
brothers were not old enough to go to the war. 
But young as he was he loved his country and 
wished the colonists to win. He never missed an 
opportunity to show his patriotism. 

Just before the Fourth of July, 1778, a notice 
was put up requesting the citizens of Lancaster not 
to illuminate their houses as usual in celebration of 
the day, since candles were very scarce. 

Robert was sorely disappointed. The Fourth 
was a great day to him. He remembered the first 
Fourth-of-July just two years before. How the 
bells had rung! How the windows had gleamed 
with candles! How the streets had blazed with 
bonfires and how joyous the people had been! 

This year he had his candles ready, and had 
been anxiously awaiting the day. He was not tr. 
kind of boy to act against the wishes of the city 
officers. That would have been a poor way to 
honor his government's birthday. Yet he did not 
want to give up his celebration altogether. 

After thinking about it for a while he took th- 



16 ROBERT FULTON 

candles back to the shop and exchanged them for 
pasteboard and gunpowder. He took these to the 
barn and worked quietly the rest of the day. 

On the evening of the Fourth he brought out 
some queer-looking pasteboard tubes with slender 
sticks in them. When a lighted candle was applied 
at one end — whizz! away went the stick with a 
great train of sparks against the black sky. 

The home-made rockets were a surprise to the 
people of Lancaster. Robert thought them much 
better than candles. 

It would not be safe for every thirteen-year-old 
boy to make his own fireworks, but Robert knew 
something about gunpowder. He understood just 
how much to use and where to put it. He had 
heard about sky rockets and had an idea how they 
were made. He drew a plan of one and, before 
attempting to make any, found out by arithmetic 
how large a charge of powder to use. 

In the war times there were many gunsmiths in 
Lancaster whose shops were kept open day and 
night; for the government was in great need of 
arms for the soldiers. 

Robert was so deeply interested in guns that he 
soon knew more about the making of them than 
many of the craftsmen who did the work. He made 



WORKING OUT SOME OF THE IDEAS 17 

nice drawings of guns, showing all the parts and 
the use of each. In some of the drawings he 
showed how the pieces might be made stronger or 
more beautiful by the addition of certain new parts 
or ornaments. 

When he showed these pictures or plans to 
the gunmakers they often made use of his sugges- 
tions, and found that they improved their arms by 
doing so. 

But there were other ways in which Robert sur- 
prised the gunmakers. He could estimate with 
figures the distance that a musket of given meas- 
urements would send a ball. When the gun was 
finished and the men went out into the field to try 
its power, they usually found that young Fulton's 
figures were correct. 

At this period of his boyhood he frequently 
went to a drug store to buy quicksilver. His 
friends were curious to know what he wanted it 
for, but no one could find out. They questioned 
and teased and joked in vain. At last they gave up 
trying to discover his secret. But they paid him 
for his silence by calling him "Quicksilver Bob." 
It was not a bad nickname for him, for his brain 
and his fingers were as active as quicksilver. 

In his sixteenth summer Robert was invited by 



18 ROBERT FULTON 

one of his boy friends to go on a fishing trip. His 
mother was willing to have him go, for the other 
boy's father would be with them. Moreover they 
were going up the Conestoga River to a point not 
far from the home of one of Robert's aunts, and he 
promised to make her a visit. 

He started off in high spirits. For a while 
he enjoyed the view of the clear stream with its 
wonderful reflections of grassy hill slopes and over- 
hanging trees. He forgot about gun shops and 
was content to sit by the hour holding a fishing 
rod. But at length he began to think of making 
something, and became restless. 

When he and his friends went out on the river 
to fish they were obliged to use a clumsy square 
fishing boat. In order to move it from one place 
to another the boys had to pole it. That is, they 
stood on the boat and pushed against a long pole 
with which they could reach the bed of the stream. 
That was a slow way of getting along and it was 
a hard one, too. 

One afternoon it occurred to " Quicksilver Bob" 
that the boat could be moved in a much easier way. 
He was anxious to try it, and started off at once to 
his aunt's to make the promised visit and some 
experiments. 



WORKING OUT SOME OF THE IDEAS 21 

He took a contrivance, not unlike an oar-lock, out 
of his pocket and fastened it to the stern of the 
boat. By the help of a paddle working in this 
socket one could guide the boat while the other 
turned the crank. They found the paddle wheels 
a great improvement on the pole. 

" Why didn't you think of that, Christopher?" 
asked Christopher's father, looking on with admira- 
tion. 

"I wonder why I didn't," answered the boy. 
' ' It looks easy enough now that Bob has shown 
me how." 

Robert might have told them this story of Colum- 
bus and the egg: One day at the table some men 
were saying that it was no great thing to sail across 
the Atlantic Ocean; they could do it themselves. 
In reply to their remarks Columbus picked up a 
boiled egg and asked which of them could make it 
stand on end. All tried in vain. "And yet," said 
the great man, "it is easy enough, and you can 
all do it when I have shown you how." With 
that he set it down so hard as to crush the end a 
little. And the egg stood in its place straight and 
steady. 




\V 



23 ROBERT FULTON 

CHAPTER III 

THE YOUNG ARTIST 

Robert Fulton had been much with people older 
than himself. As a result he was unusually sen- 
sible and dignified, and appeared older than he 
really was. At the age of seventeen he thought 
himself quite a man, and set out to make his own 
living. 

He determined to be an artist. He liked to 
draw and paint, and spent many hours with pencil 
and brush, making drawings of machinery or paint- 
ing pictures. He was successful with both land- 
scapes and portraits. Nothing was too difficult for 
him to attempt. A picture that he painted during 
the war represented the Whig boys of Lancaster 
as vanquishing the Tory boys in a fight. It was 
exhibited and attracted a good deal of attention. 

Although he had had no instruction in the art of 
painting, he had some talent, and his friends in 
Lancaster thought his work very good. They 
called him a second Benjamin West. 

Benjamin West was a gifted artist. He was 
brought up in a plain Quaker home not far from 
Lancaster. From boyhood he had wanted to be 




BENJAMIN WEST 



24 ROBERT FULTON 

an artist but every one discouraged him. Notwith- 
standing the disapproval of his family and his 
friends he struggled on. He went to England. 
There he became famous. He received large sums 
of money for his pictures which were bought by the 
rich and noble. 

His old neighbors heard of his success with sur- 
prise, and for a while every boy who could draw 
hoped that he too might become a famous artist. 

Robert Fulton had^ been encouraged by the 
success of Mr. West to give much attention to art. 
He had confidence in his own talent, but when he 
saw a fine picture he realized that his own work 
was very crude. He resolved to go to Philadelphia 
to study. 

He spent four years there, studying and painting. 
His work found many admirers. He soon gained 
a reputation as a miniature painter. He sold pic- 
tures almost as fast as he could paint them. In 
that way he was able to pay his own expenses and 
save money. 

When he was twenty-one years old he went 
back to Lancaster to visit his mother. He had 
saved about four hundred dollars, and with that he 
bought her a farm in Washington County in the 
southwestern part of Pennsylvania. It was a good 



THE YOUNG ARTIST 25 

farm of about eighty acres. It had been cleared 
and the house and barn had been built. The pur- 
chase was a wise investment. With a little help 
Mrs. Fulton and her daughters could make a com- 
fortable living on the farm. 

Her son knew that it would be hard to move. 
The way was long and the roads were poor. Rivers 
and mountains had to be crossed. He therefore 
went with the family to see them comfortably 
settled in the new home. 

The journey was made in early summer, and it 
was a pleasant one. Mrs. Fulton was happy to 
have her manly son with her again even for a short 
time. It was satisfying to feel that she was on her 
way to take possession of a farm of her own. All 
of them, but especially the young artist, enjoyed 
the picturesque scenery through which they passed. 

The farm was just what Mrs. Fulton had often 
longed for. All worked with a will, and they soon 
had the house and the garden in good order. 
Neighbors came from distant farms to welcome them. 

Robert felt sure that his mother and sisters 
would be happy and comfortable in their new 
home. He could go back to Philadelphia with a 
light heart. He felt that he ought to go without 
further delay. 



2 6 ROBERT FULTON 

Mrs. Fulton did not wish her brilliant son to stay 
on the farm and plow. She was proud of him and 
wanted him to go to the city and become great and 
famous. Yet it was hard to say good-by, for it 
would be a long time before she would see him 
again. 

On his return journey Robert Fulton rode 
through large tracts of rich, wild land. ' ' Much of 
this land would make fertile farms," thought he. 
' ' But of what use would it be to raise a crop here ? 
How could the farmer get it to market?" 

That question came back to him again and 
again, and some years later he tried to answer it. 

Mr. Fulton had made many warm friends in 
Philadelphia. Those who understood his work 
best and valued it most highly advised him to go 
to England. He realized that he could make no 
further progress in Philadelphia, and decided to go 
abroad. 

He wrote to the great Benjamin West, who 
promised to help him if he would go to England. 
As soon as his resolution became known, his friends 
in Philadelphia gave him letters of introduction to 
their friends in England and France. So he did 
not feel as if he were going altogether among 
strangers. 



THE YOUNG ARTIST 37 

He crossed the ocean on a large ship with great 
white sails. When the sun was bright and a favor- 
able breeze blew, the sails were filled with wind 
and the vessel flew like a bird over the blue waves. 
When a storm arose the sails had to be taken in, 
and the naked masts creaked and the wind whistled 
through the rigging. At other times there were 
days of calm when almost no breeze was stirring, 
and the great sails hung limp and motionless, and 
the ship floated idly on the sea. 

After a long voyage the cry of "Land!" brought 
all the passengers on deck. Robert Fulton stood 
among them looking eagerly at the shores of the 
Old World. There he hoped to see wonderful 
pictures and meet renowned artists. He told him- 
self that he would learn all they had to teach him, 
and that one day his work might be celebrated. 

The ardor of the young artist was not soon 
dampened. Mr. West treated him with the great- 
est kindness. He invited him to his home and 
introduced him to his friends. He was pleased 
with his young countryman's pictures, and praised 
their beauty while he pointed out their faults. 

The two artists became very fond of each other; 
they worked and walked and talked together in 
perfect good fellowship. 



28 ROBERT FULTON 

With such a powerful friend to introduce him 
Mr. Fulton became acquainted with influentic 
men who liked his work and bought his pictures 
Every one that met the handsome young America 
liked him. Strangers were pleased with his fir 
face and his frank manly manner. When the^ 
knew him better they found he could talk as well 
as he could paint. And best of all, he proved to 
be a grateful, true, and generous friend. He was 
impulsive and warm hearted. He loved and trusted 
those whom he admired, and they could not help 
loving him in return. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE ARTIST BECOMES AN ENGINEER 

Among Mr. Fulton's new friends there were 
many who, while somewhat interested in art, were 
much more interested in other subjects. They 
liked the young artist the better when they found 
that he knew about other things besides painting. 

Mr. Fulton met, among others, a duke who had 
given a great deal of attention to canals. As he 
listened to the nobleman talk he said to himself, 
' ' I have found the answer to the question, ' How 



THE ARTIST BECOMES AN ENGINEER 29 

can the farmers on inland farms of Pennsylvania 
get their produce to market? " 

The duke was pleased to find Mr. Fulton such 
an eager listener. Later he was more delighted 
to hear his clever and original suggestions about 
canals. He thought that the clear and perfect 
drawings which he made to explain his ideas were 
more interesting than the finest paintings. 

The two men formed a friendship that became 
stronger as years passed. 

Mr. Fulton, having had his interest in canals 
aroused, could not drive the subject from his mind. 
Nor did he wish to do so. To supply the farmers 
with a cheap and quick means of carrying their 
produce began to seem a more important matter 
than painting beautiful pictures. 

The principal cities and villages in America were 
built on the coast or on rivers. Even farmers chose 
land near navigable water. For supplies were car- 
ried from the country to the city and from the city 
to the country in sloops, schooners, and barges. 

Most of the transportation between places away 
from the water was done by wagons. Men, called 
teamsters, made a business of hauling goods from 
one place to another. There were few good roads 
in America then, for it took a great deal of money 



3 o ROBERT FULTON 

to make them. For that reason it cost almost as 
much as produce was worth to have it hauled to 
market by horses and wagons. 

Some artificial water-ways had been built be- 
tween places where there were no natural ones. 
These were called canals. The large freight boats 
used on them were pulled or towed by horses 
driven along a path on the bank of the canal. 
Heavy loads could be transported in that way at 
small cost. But such canals as were then built 
were so large and expensive that it was impossible 
to have many of them. 

Mr. Fulton thought tne canal was the most 
practical means known for conveying produce from 
one part of the country to another. And he was 
probably right. If you were to take a journey 
along the Erie Canal to-day, you would find that 
there are many who still use canals in preference 
even to railroads. In the summer and fall many 
fleets of grain barges towed by steam tugs pass 
along this canal. 

But Mr. Fulton knew that his countrymen could 
not afford to build large canals in all the places 
where canals were needed. He thought that it 
would be better to make them smaller and to have 
more of them. 



THE ARTIST BECOMES AN ENGINEER 31 

He wrote a book to explain his idea of an exten- 
sive system of small canals joining farms and vil- 
lages. In the book he showed that such a system 
would not only benefit those who used the canals 
but would strengthen the nation. It would increase 
the value of the public lands in the interior. It 
would bring the people of different sections of the 
country into closer relations. They would have 
common business interests, and the Union would 
therefore be strengthened. 

He showed how canals could be more simply 
made, and suggested improvements in canal 
boats. 

If a canal should open into a river its waters 
would join those of the river and flow away towards 
the sea. So when a canal comes to a stream its 
waters have to be confined in a great, strong 
trough that crosses the river just as a bridge does. 
This is called an aqueduct. Aqueducts were made 
of stone in Fulton's time and were very costly. 

Mr. Fulton thought they could be made of cast 
iron instead of stone. Others said that iron could 
not stand the changes in temperature and would 
break. But one of the stone aqueducts was de- 
stroyed in a flood and the men who rebuilt it fol- 
lowed Mr. Fulton's plan. The iron aqueduct wore 



32 



ROBERT FULTON 



so well that others were made like it. Afterwards 
iron was used commonly for that purpose. 

Another expensive feature in canal building is 
the arrangement by which boats are raised and 
lowered from one section of the canal to another. 
Canals have to be level. There can be no slope 




LOCKS, AND BOAT GOING DOWN. 

to them as there is to a river. If the land slopes 
up, the canal is built in a series of level sections, 
each higher than the one before it. 

It is customary to build locks for moving boats 
from one level to another. They are large, square 
tanks rising gradually like steps. 



THE ARTIST BECOMES AN ENGINEER 33 

When a boat from above comes to one of these 
giant stairways its way is barred by big gates. 
These gates open inward and the pressure of the 
water against them holds them shut. Every one 
of the tanks or locks has a pair of these gates. 
They are all closed. When the boat is ready to 
go down, the valves of the canal gates leading to 
the first lock are opened. The water flows from 
the canal into this lock until it is as high in the 
lock as it is in the canal. The pressure of the 
water on both sides of the gates is then equal and 
the gates can be opened. 

The boat passes into the lock and the gates 
behind it are closed. The valves in the gates lead- 
ing to the next lower lock are opened and the water 
flows out of the first lock into the second until it 
is even in both. The gates are opened; the boat 
goes into the second lock and so on, until it is 
"down stairs." 

If the boat is to go up it enters the lowest lock. 
The gates are closed back of it; the valves of the 
upper gates are opened and the water runs from 
the upper into the lower lock until the water in 
both is level. Then the gates are opened and the 
boat goes into the higher lock. Thus step by step 
it climbs the hill. 



34 



ROBERT FULTON 



Mr. Fulton thought that where locks were needed 
in small canals they should be made of wood 




FULTON S DOUBLE-INCLINED PLANE 

instead of stone. But he believed that only a few 
of them were needed. 

He planned a cheaper way of moving canal boats 



THE ARTIST BECOMES AN ENGINEER 35 



from one level to another. His plan was to use 
double tracks on a sloping surface. One end of 
the tracks would be in the lower section of the 
canal; the other in a lock leading to the upper 
branch. 

When a boat wanted to reach the upper section 
of the canal a stout car or truck was sent down the 
slope into the water and the boat was floated upon 




wHg 




DETAILS OF FULTON S INCLINED PLANE 

it. This car was connected by a long chain that 
passed over a pulley at the top of the hill, with 
another car on the parallel track. The chain was 
so long that when one car was at the bottom of the 
slope the other was at the top. A heavy weight 
was kept on the second car, and when the car with 
the boat on it was ready to be brought up hill the 
weight on the other car was increased until it was 



36 ROBERT FULTON 

greater than the weight of the boat. Then it began 
to go down hill, and as it went down it drew the 
car with the boat on it up. When it was in the 
lock the lower gates were closed and the valves in 
the upper gates were opened. The lock was filled 
with water and the boat could be taken on its way 
in the higher section of the canal. 

Mr. Fulton's views attracted much attention, and 
his suggestions were tried in many places with 
success. 

He gave more and more time to engineering and 
less and less to art. At length he decided that he 
would make engineering rather than painting his 
life work. His skill with the pencil was by no 
means lost in his new business. He found it a 
great help in illustrating and explaining his plans. 

While in England he invented and received 
patents for several improvements in canals and 
canal boats. He also invented a mill for sawing 
marble, a machine for spinning flax, and a machine 
for removing earth from canal beds. 

When he left that country he was well known 
as an earnest promoter of the useful arts. 



EXPERIMENTS 37 

CHAPTER V 

EXPERIMENTS 

In 1797 Mr. Fulton left England to go to France. 
For some years he lived in Paris in the same house 
with Joel Barlow, a prominent American statesman 
and poet of that time. The two men formed a 
warm friendship. Mr. Fulton illustrated Barlow's 
greatest poem, the " Columbiad, " which was dedi- 
cated to him. They worked together and were 
partners in many business ventures. 

Robert Fulton's head was still very full of his 
own ideas, but he now thought it worth while to 
try to find room in it for some ideas from books. 
He studied mathematics, science, and foreign lan- 
guages. 

To earn money to pay his expenses he painted 
a panorama The people of Paris had never seen 
one before. They thought it was very entertain- 
ing to see a story told in a succession of beauti- 
ful pictures, and went in large crowds to see it. 

Study and painting were merely his pastimes, 
however. He gave his serious attention to making 
experiments. He seemed to be no longer inter- 
ested in finding a way for his countrymen to 
transport food and clothing and other necessities 



38 ROBERT FULTON 

of life. He was trying to find a way to blow up 
warships. 

You remember that in his boyhood days during 
the Revolution, he had spent hours in the gun- 
smiths' shops. Even then he had realized that 
gunpowder was a marvelous power, and he had 
discovered that man can measure and direct its 
force. He believed that new ways of controlling 
and using that force ought to be discovered. 

He contrived a torpedo that would explode some 
minutes after the machinery attached to it had 
been set in motion. He then went to work to 
make a diving boat in which men could move about 
under water. With one of these boats a few men 
could go under a warship and fasten a torpedo to 
it. When they had it firmly fixed where they 
wanted it, they would start its machinery. They 
would have time to get well out of the way before 
the explosion. 

He spent much money and time in his experi- 
ments with the diving boat and the torpedoes. He 
tried to interest the French and English govern- 
ments in his inventions. Committees were appoint- 
ed to see whether his invention was of any value. 
They found it to be all that Mr. Fulton claimed, but 
they did not like the idea that their splendid war- 





® //////// Q ^ > 



FULTON S SUB-MARINE BOAT 

(from an old cut) 



40 ROBERT FULTON 

ships could be destroyed by a few men. It seemed 
to them that this invention would put too much 
power into the hands of the weak. 

That had been Robert Fulton's idea in working 
with the torpedo and diving boat. In those days 
the seas were ruled by the nations that had the 
most warships. Many wrongs were suffered at 
sea by the traders of smaller nations whose navies 
were not strong. Troubles were constantly arising 
because of wrongs done at sea. 

Mr. Fulton thought that if it were possible for 
a few men to destroy a warship the owners of the 
great warships would cease doing injury to others. 
For their own safety the strong would be obliged 
to agree to fair and just laws governing ocean 
trade. 

So after all, in spite of first appearances, Robert 
Fulton was still struggling with the old question of 
how to help along transportation by water. 

He had faith in his invention and in its useful- 
ness to men. On one occasion he was offered a 
reward if he would keep his invention out of use 
in all countries. 

He answered this offer in a very emphatic and 
patriotic manner. He said: "At all events I never 
will consent to let these inventions lie dormant, 



EXPERIMENTS 41 

should my country at any time have need of them. 
Were you to grant me the annuity of twenty 
thousand pounds I would sacrifice all to the safety 
and independence of my country. " 

Finding that both England and France disap- 
proved of his proposed invention, Mr. Fulton 
resolved to return to his native land. 

Before starting on the voyage to America he 
made careful drawings and explanations of his boat 
and torpedo. These he left in England, so that 
in case of shipwreck, as he said, "the result of 
my studies and experience may not be lost to my 
country." 

He expected to start in October and arrive at 
New York in November. He wrote to his friend, 
Mr. Barlow, who had already gone back to the 
United States: "I shall be with you I hope, in 
November, perhaps about the fourteenth, my 
birthday, so you must have a roast goose ready. " 

But he spent that birthday at sea. It was the 
thirteenth of December, 1806, when he landed in 
New York. He brought with him good health, 
good spirits, a high reputation, and great hopes. 
Moreover he had about ,£15,000, received for past 
work, many valuable pictures, and, last but not 
least, a mysterious steam engine. 



42 ROBERT FULTON 

CHAPTER VI 

MAKING THE STEAMBOAT 

There was a close connection between Robert 
Fulton's good spirits and that steam engine. 

Do you remember the paddle wheels he made 
for the old fishing boat on the Conestoga River, 
when he was a boy? Those wheels were turned 
by a crank, and the boys had to turn the crank. 
Robert Fulton had often thought of that boat. 
How well it went when the crank was turned fast 
enough! If only an engine could be made for 
turning the crank, how much better a boat moved 
by paddle wheels would be than one moved by 
wind and sails! The steam engine which Mr. Ful- 
ton brought from England was intended for that 
very purpose. And now I will tell you how he got it. 

While Mr. Fulton was staying in Paris, Chan- 
cellor Robert R. Livingston, a wealthy American 
patriot and statesman, went to France to act as 
United States minister to that country. The two 
men became acquainted. 

Mr. Livingston was interested in science and 
mechanics. Lie had tried to make a steamboat but 
had failed. He still believed, however, that a 



MAKING THE STEAMBOAT 



43 



steamboat could be made. Robert Fulton told him 
that he considered the steamboat both a possibility 
and a necessity. He was surprised that no one 
who had tried to make such a boat had succeeded, 




ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON 



and he had often thought of trying it himself, but 
he had not had enough money for the undertaking. 
Mr. Livingston was eager to have him devote 
his attention to the subject. He promised to fur- 
nish a certain portion of the money needed for the 



44 ROBERT FULTON 

experiment. He also promised to use his influence 
to secure from the New York legislature the sole, 
right to use steamboats on the waters in the state 
of New York. 

Experimenting with steamboats was expensive. 
So many had tried and failed that it was difficult 
to find any one who would risk money on a steam- 
boat venture. Mr. Fulton was a practical man 
and did not act with blind enthusiasm. He 
counted the cost first, and if a thing was com- 
pletely beyond his reach he did not attempt it. 
Before this he had looked upon the steamboat as 
something impossible, at least for him. But Mr. 
Livingston's generosity encouraged him to under- 
take to make such a boat, and with some hope of 
success. 

In 1802, he went to a little village in France. 
There he made a small model of a steamboat with 
side wheels turned by machinery. He tried it on 
a stream, and it was so successful that he returned 
to Paris and had a large boat made like it. 

When the boat was finished, it was launched 
on the Seine River. That was early in the spring 
of 1803. Both Mr. Livingston and Mr. Fulton 
believed that it would prove to be a success. They 
determined to make a trial trip, and invite their 



MAKING THE STEAMBOAT 45 

friends and other influential men to be present on 
that occasion. 

But one morning, as Mr. Fulton was dressing, a 
boy came to his lodgings to tell him that the boat 
had sunk. When Mr. Fulton heard this his spirits 
sank too. For a moment he felt that it was useless 
to make any further efforts towards inventing a 
steamboat. He finished dressing in haste, and 
without stopping to eat breakfast, hurried to the 
place where the boat had been secured the night 
before. There was no sign of it. 

He found that it was under the water. He soon 
had men at work trying to raise the wreck. He 
did not merely stand on the bank and give orders 
to the laborers. He plunged into the river and 
worked the hardest of all. He worked all day and 
far into the night, without food or rest. He did 
not know that his clothes were wet through and 
through, that the spring air was cold, or that he had 
been long without food. He had no thought of him- 
self. His whole mind was bent on saving his boat. 

His energy inspired his helpers, and before the 
next day's sun rose, the fragments of the vessel and 
its engine were safe on dry land. The inventor 
examined the wreck and found that the vessel had 
broken in two in the middle. The framework was 



46 ROBERT FULTON 

light and the machinery was heavy. The rocking 
of the waves had been too much for the little craft. 

The machinery was put together again and a 
stronger boat was made. In August of the same 
year some of the distinguished citizens of Paris 
received cards inviting them to view the first trip 
of Mr. Fulton's steamboat. 

It moved off in fine style, and all were well satis- 
fied except the inventor. The boat did not go fast 
enough to suit him. But he saw that its speed 
could be increased by building a stronger en- 
gine. 

Mr. Livingston was ready to furnish the money 
for such an engine. Mr. Fulton ordered it made 
in England. He did not tell what the engine was 
to be used for but gave careful directions as to how 
it should be constructed. 

It was completed in 1806 and sent to America. 

Mr. Livingston had succeeded in getting an act 
passed by the legislature, giving to him and Mr. 
Fulton the sole right to use boats propelled by 
' ' fire or steam " on the waters of New York state 
for a term of twenty years. The bill was treated 
as a joke in the legislature. No one thought 
twenty years too long a time. One man suggested 
that the term be extended to one hundred or one 



MAKING THE STEAMBOAT 47 

thousand years; for all thought it improbable that 
such boats would ever be used at all. 

Mr. Fulton had the boat built at the shipyards 
of Charles Brown on East River. He devoted 
most of his time during the winter of 1806 to super- 
intending its construction. While it was being 
made men often stopped to look at the strange 
craft. Not knowing the inventor they sometimes 
talked freely in his presence. What they said was 
not flattering. They thanked fortune they were 
not so mad as to put faith and money in such a 
wild scheme. The steamboat enterprise was com- 
monly called "Fulton's folly." 

All the money that Mr. Livingston and Mr. 
Fulton had agreed to put into it had been spent. 
Still more was needed. They decided to take a 
third partner, but no one would join them. Mr. 
Livingston was unwilling to invest any more of his 
fortune in the venture, and Mr. Fulton had no 
money to risk. 

It was hard to borrow money when he could 
offer no better security than an untried steamboat. 
But Mr. Fulton did not find it impossible. He 
selected men who were intelligent enough to under- 
stand and wealthy enough to risk a few thousand 
dollars. He went to them and explained his need. 



48 ROBERT FULTON 

They laughed at first and refused to help him. 
But they were moved by his glowing words and his 
confidence of success, and when he left them it was 
usually with the money that he had asked for. 

By his efforts the boat was finished and ready 
for trial late in the summer of 1807. She was 
named, in honor of Chancellor Livingston's beauti- 
ful home, the "Clermont." She was 130 feet 
long, 16^ feet wide, and 4 feet deep. The wheels 
were 1 5 feet in diameter with a two feet dip. The 
boiler was 20 feet by 7 feet by 18 feet. 

The owners of the boat invited their friends to 
join them in the first trip up the Hudson. Some 
refused because they were ashamed to have it 
thought that they had any faith in the boat. 
Others accepted, fearing that they would have to 
condole with their hosts in their disappointment 
rather than rejoice with them at their success. 



THE TRIAL VOYAGE 49 

CHAPTER VII 

THE TRIAL VOYAGE 

It was a fair morning late in the summer of 
1807. One man said to another "The Clermont 
is to start to Albany to-day. Let us go down to 
the wharf to see the end of Fulton's folly." So a 
great crowd gathered at the dock. 

Among the graceful sailboats on the river they 
saw an ugly, stout, little vessel with a great 
ungainly smokestack sending out clouds of black 
smoke. The ends of the boat were decked over, 
but the middle was open and the machinery was in 
plain view. There was a small sail at either end, 
and the colors were flying gayly. 

The boat was not pleasing to look at. Even 
Chancellor Livingston was forced to admit that it 
was one of the ugliest crafts he had ever seen. ' ' It 
looks," said he, "like a backwoods sawmill 
mounted on a scow and set on fire." 

The invited guests were on the decks, and Mr. 
Fulton was moving about among them trying his 
best to cheer them up. But they would look sad 
and hopeless. The coldness of his friends and the 
jokes and jeers of the spectators were hard to bear. 

When the command was given to start, the 



THE TRIAL VOYAGE 51 

vessel struck out boldly and the wheels churned 
the blue water into foam. There was a moment 
of amazed silence. Then a cheer arose. But the 
boat stopped, and the cheer also stopped before 
they had gone far. 

Those who were on the boat believed it would 
never go further. They felt that they were being 
made fun of by the spectators, and wished they 
were on land. They took no pains to hide their 
impatience. 

It was a trying moment for Mr. Fulton. He 
stood on a chair where all could see him and begged 
them to be patient for thirty minutes. lie said 
that if all was not right by that time, he would give 
up the trip and land the passengers. 

His handsome face, his brilliant eyes, his voice 
full of feeling and earnestness, aroused the sym- 
pathy and respect, if not the hopes, of his friends, 
and they warmly expressed their willingness to 
wait an hour if need be. 

He hurried down to the engine. He found that 
the difficulty was a very slight one and easily cor- 
rected. In a few minutes the little vessel started 
again, and this time she kept steadily on her way 
up the river. 

Then a great chorus of cheers arose from the 



52 ROBERT FULTON 

throng on the bank. The men who had come to 
see the end of "Fulton's folly" waved hats and 
handkerchiefs, and shouted at the top of their 
voices in honor of the man who had done what 
had seemed to them impossible. 

The inventor and his guests stood on the deck 
and returned the salute. They were soon out of 
hearing, for the little boat made good time. 

The party on the boat became a merry one. 
Smiles and handshakes took the place of frowns and 
shrugs as they sped along. There were about forty 
persons present. Talented men and beautiful wo- 
men, the flower of New York, made up the company. 

Mr. Livingston had urged two of his grand- 
daughters to go, telling them it would be something 
to remember as long as they lived. His cousin, 
Harriet Livingston, one of the famous beauties of 
that great family, was also on the boat. 

They found Mr. Fulton a delightful host. One 
of the ladies in the party afterwards wrote to a 
friend that he was the finest looking man on the 
Clermont. She said, ' ' That son of a Pennsylvania 
farmer was a prince among men; as modest as he 
was great, and as handsome as he was modest. 
His eyes were glowing with love and genius." 

The ride up the Hudson was a pleasant one. 



THE TRIAL VOYAGE 53 

The Dassengers sat on deck in comfortable chairs 
and watched the stately Palisades disappear from 
view; admired the restful vales around the Tappan 
Zee, sleeping in the August haze; and looked with 
pleasure upon the grander beauty of the Highlands. 

They chatted about the places of interest which 
they passed, and the older men pointed out spots 
that had been made famous in the Revolution. 
Then they noticed how fast the boat moved, and 
laughed over their doubts of its success. 

Every little while a small group went below with 
Mr. Fulton to see the engine and hear him good- 
naturedly explain for the twentieth time the won- 
derful machinery. They peeped into the furnace 
at the blazing fire of pine wood. They watched 
the great wheels and asked the inventor what made 
them go. 

He showed them that the movement of the 
piston in the steam cylinder kept the crank in 
motion. A chain wheel or sprocket wheel was 
attached to the crank and turned by it. It was 
connected by an endless chain with another 
sprocket wheel that was fastened to the axle of the 
paddle wheel. Thus the great paddle wheels were 
kept turning by a contrivance not unlike that 
which turns the rear wheel of a chain bicycle. 




o 



SUCCESS 55 

As the guests began to tire of these things they 
were called up by a laugh from the party on deck. 
They arrived just too late to see a company 
of boys and girls, who had been fishing on the 
bank, drop their rods and run screaming into the 
woods to escape from the fiery monster coming up 
the river. 

In the evening the tables were spread on deck 
and an ample supper was served. After the tables 
were cleared, beds were made and hammocks 
were swung. Most of the party went to sleep 
early that night, tired and happy. 

But Robert Fulton was too much excited to 
sleep. He listened to the throbbing engine and 
the splashing wheel. He watched the trail of 
sparks streaming across the sky, and he thought of 
many things. 



CHAPTER VIII 

SUCCESS 



The next morning the passengers awoke to find 
themselves far on their journey up the Hudson. 
Every one pronounced the steamboat a success. 

They were to stop at Clermont, the home of 



56 ROBERT FULTON 

Mr. Livingston, to land the guests and give the 
crew a chance to rest. 

A short time before they reached the place the 
passengers were called together and Chancellor 
Livingston made a speech. He spoke in glowing 
terms of Robert Fulton and the great work he had 
done. Then he announced the betrothal of Robert 
Fulton and the charming Harriet Livingston. 

Many were surprised and all were delighted at 
this announcement, and Mr. Fulton was over- 
whelmed with congratulations and good wishes. 

The Clermont reached Clermont, its namesake, 
at one o'clock on Tuesday. The journey of one 
hundred and ten miles had been completed in 
twenty-four hours. This was better time than the 
best sailboats ever made, and Mr. Fulton and Mr. 
Livingston both felt more than satisfied,, 

Robert R. Livingston lived in grand style. His 
home was considered the finest house in America. 
His beautiful park extended for a mile along 
the Hudson. The mansion was built in the form 
of the letter H, and each arm of the H was a 
hundred feet long. The great house was furnished 
with rare and beautiful furniture brought from 
France. The sideboards were loaded with heavy 
dishes of solid silver. In the library there were 



SUCCESS 57 

over six thousand books. The walls were hung 
with portraits and fine paintings. A large con- 
servatory added to the beauty of the establishment. 

Everything was in keeping with the luxury of the 
interior. When the chancellor went out to drive 
he rode in a gilded coach drawn by four horses. 
He kept three sets of horses to suit the weather: 
black ones for bright weather, white ones for cloudy 
weather, and gray ones for wet weather. 

He was a hospitable man, and the old house had 
been the scene of many a stately gathering. You 
may be sure the rooms were brilliant with wax- 
candle lights on the evening after the arrival of the 
steamboat party, and everything was done to cele- 
brate in grand style the success of the chancellor 's 
pet enterprise. Robert Fulton was the guest of 
honor. He enjoyed the evening fully and said to 
himself ' ' This is success. The reward is worth 
the effort." 

The pleasures at Clermont were not strong 
enough to lure the inventor from his boat, and the 
next morning at nine o'clock he said farewell to the 
gay company there and went on up the river with 
his crew 

That day he sat alone on the deck watching the 
steady progress of his vessel. He thought what a 



58 ROBERT FULTON 

great benefit the steamboat would be to mankind. 
It would make it possible to explore and settle the 
vast western wildernesses of the United States. 
The mysteries of the Mississippi and the Missouri 
would disappear before the steamboat. What 
cheer the steamboat would carry to the western 
pioneers, struggling and working bravely so far 
from their fellow men! It would take them news 
of the civilized world, letters, friends, and neigh- 
bors. When it was perfected, how quickly and 
safely men could travel from city to city and coun- 
try to country! Then he said to himself again, 
1 ' This is success. The reward is worth the effort. " 

He reached Albany at five o'clock that evening 
and started back to New York at nine the next 
morning. 

Just as the boat was about to start, a man 
jumped aboard and asked, ' ' What is the fare to 
New York?" 

Mr. Fulton thought a moment, then said, ' ' Seven 
dollars." 

As he pocketed his first steamboat earnings he 
smiled brightly and thought, "This, too, is success." 

With the exception of an hour's stop at Cler- 
mont there was no interruption to his homeward 
voyage. 



STEAMBOATS ON THE HUDSON 59 

It was very amusing to see the excitement caused 
by the strange-looking bark. Some people stared 
at her in open-mouthed wonder; others ran away 
in fear. She caused most alarm at night. Her 
shrill whistle startled the fishermen, and when they 
saw the boat plunging towards them with side 
lights gleaming and a column of smoke and fire 
rising from the smokestack they thought some 
monster of the deep was ready to devour them, 
and fled in terror. 

On reaching New York Mr. Fulton reported a 
trip of one hundred and fifty miles in thirty hours. 
He heard no more of "Fulton's folly." He found 
that Mr. Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steam- 
boat, was a man of some importance. 



CHAPTER IX 

STEAMBOATS ON THE HUDSON 

Being satisfied with the Clermont's first trip, Mr. 
Fulton went to work at once to prepare her for a 
regular passenger boat. He had the machinery 
decked over and the sides boarded up. He fitted 
up each of the cabins with twelve berths. Much of 
the iron work had to be strengthened, too. 



6o ROBERT FULTON 

By the middle of the following week the boat 
was ready to start. The fares were the same as 
those on the regular sail boats. Seven dollars was 
the full fare from New York to Albany. The Cler- 
mont had several advantages over other boats. 
She made better time, and was more regular. 
Then she was better fitted to accommodate pas- 
sengers. Travelers on the Clermont did not have 
to provide their own beds, food, and servants, as 
they did on most other river boats. She usually 
had as many passengers as she could accommo- 
date. 

On the second of October the following notice 
was published in a New York paper: 

' ' Mr. Fulton's new-invented steamboat, which 
is fitted up in a neat style for passengers and is 
intended to run from New York to Albany as a 
packet, left here this morning with ninety passen- 
gers, against a strong head wind. Notwithstand- 
ing which it is judged she moved through the 
waters at the rate of six miles an hour. " 

The owners of the Clermont planned that she 
should make three trips a week. One week she 
would run twice to Albany and once to New York, 
and the next week she would go twice to New York 
and once to Albany. 



STEAMBOATS ON THE HUDSON 61 

But all was not fair sailing. The machinery was 
by no means perfect. Accidents happened that 
laid the boat up for repairs. Not all of the acci- 
dents were due to faults in the construction of the 
boat. The new steamboat had many enemies, i 
The owners of sailing vessels did not like to see 
business taken out of their hands. They wanted 
to make it appear that the steamboat was a failure. 
They ran into her and against her, and took off her 
wheels and injured her in every way they could. 

There were so many attempts to harm her that 
the matter was carried before the state legisla- 
ture, and an act was passed declaring any inten- 
tional injury to the steamboat a crime punishable 
by fine or imprisonment. 

When the river froze over, and navigation 
stopped for the winter, there were some who said 
that the Clermont would never be used again. 
They were mistaken however. She was repaired 
and improved during the winter, and started out 
in the spring of 1808, a better boat than ever 
before. 

In advertising the steamer a great point was 
made of her regularity. She left New York every 
Saturday evening and reached Albany on Sunday 
night. She left Albany every Wednesday morn- 



62 ROBERT FULTON 

ing at eight o'clock and arrived at New York the 
next morning. 

Bills were printed telling at what time she would 
pass important places. Those wishing to take 
the boat were requested to be on the spot an hour 
before the stated time in case the boat should be 
ahead of time. 

Steamboats have been improved so that the 
Clermont would seem to passengers of to-day small, 
inconvenient, and slow. Now great, elegant steam- 
ers, fitted with every luxury, leave New York every 
summer morning, and land hundreds of passengers 
at Albany in the evening. 

But in those times the Clermont was regarded as 
a model of comfort and speed. She was very 
popular. Her owners soon had other boats on the 
river running between New York and Albany. So 
many improvements were made that within less 
than ten years the trip was made in eighteen 
instead of thirty hours. 

Steamboats were also made to run between other 
places. 

Steam ferry-boats were built to run across 
Hudson River and East River. In describing one 
of them Mr. Fulton wrote: "The boat crosses the 
river, which is a mile and a half broad, when it is 



STEAMBOATS ON THE HUDSON 63 

calm in fifteen minutes; the average time is twenty 
minutes. She has had in her at one time eight 
four-wheel carriages, twenty-nine horses, one 
hundred passengers, and could have taken three 
hundred more." 

Later, other steamboats were made to run on 
the Sound and on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. 

High prices were charged for passengers and 
freight, and the boats were well patronized; but 
the inventors did not become rich. 

There were men who claimed to have invented 
the steamboat before Fulton. Some built boats 
and put them on waters which the state had given 
him the sole right to navigate. 

He was repeatedly obliged to go into court to 
have his rights protected. The expense of law- 
suits and the enormous cost of building new steam- 
boats used his money about as fast as he made it. 

He found that lawsuits and worry take away 
much of the satisfaction which an inventor derives 
from his success. Yet he understood what a bless- 
ing the steamboat was to men, and never thought 
that the reward was not worth the cost. 

Although he did not neglect other interests, his 
attention for a long time was given mainly to the 
perfection of his great invention. 



64 ROBERT FULTON 

CHAPTER X 

OTHER INTERESTS 

To supply the ever-increasing demand for steam- 
boats against so many other claimants would have 
been too great a burden for most men. But 
Robert Fulton had wonderful energy. He could 
stem the torrent of opposition as easily as one of 
his great steamers could make headway against 
the ocean tides. 

He neglected nothing pertaining to the interests 
of the steamboat company. He made repeated 
improvements in the machinery for propelling 
boats. He also increased the comfort and con- 
venience of the vessels in numberless ways. 
Nothing was so small as to be unworthy of the great 
inventor's notice. His sharp eyes seemed to see 
everything. 

A story is told that shows how quick he was to 
observe little things. A man claimed that he had 
invented a machine which would go for ever without 
stopping. 

The machine was exhibited in New York, and 
many were willing to give a dollar to see such a 
marvelous invention. Mr. Fulton showed no 



OTHER INTERESTS 65 

interest in it. He said that he knew too much 
about mechanics to have any faith in perpetual 
motion. But he was persuaded to go with some 
friends to see it. 

He not only looked at the swaying pendulum 
and revolving wheels, he listened, as well, to the 
noise they made. He said to his friends, "Why, 
that's a crank motion. Don't you hear it? If 
this machinery made it the sound would be 
regular. There must be a crank somewhere." 

His charges made the man who was showing 
the machine very angry, and he said they were 
false. Mr. Fulton answered that if his friends 
would stand by him he would prove the truth of 
what he had said. He then broke away part of 
the framework and discovered a stout string. 
Following the string the men reached the attic 
and found an old man sitting there and turning a 
crank to which the string was fastened. 

Many learned men had been so deceived by the 
fraud as to write long papers trying to explain the 
working of the machine. The fine ear of the 
inventor enabled him to explain the mystery very 
simply and clearly. 

In addition to looking closely after steamboat 
matters, Mr. Fulton found time to keep up his 



66 ROBERT FULTON 

interest in other subjects. Chief among these were 
canals and torpedo boats. 

We have already spoken of the Erie Canal which 
crosses the state of New York, connecting the Great 
Lakes with the Hudson River and making it pos- 
sible to take grain by water from the Minnesota 
wheat fields to New York. Although the canal 
was not begun until after Mr. Fulton's death, he 
took an active part in planning it. It is claimed 
by some of his friends that he was the first to 
suggest building it; at any rate he was one of the 
canal commissioners and took a prominent part in 
deciding upon its location and construction. 

He still believed that the torpedo was the weaker 
nation's safeguard against the warships of the 
stronger one. In 1810 he published a book called 
' ' Torpedo War. " His text was, ' ' The liberty of 
the seas will be the happiness of the earth." 

He contrived several devices for defensive and 
offensive warfare. One of his torpedoes was to be 
anchored in harbors in times of war. When the 
enemy's vessel struck it, it would explode and 
destroy the warship. Another was attached to a 
harpoon which was to be hurled at an approaching 
ship from a gun. If the harpoon pierced the side 
of the ship it would hold the torpedo in place until 



HIS WORK ENDED 67 

it was exploded by its clockworks. He also made 
a water-tight gun to be fired under water. 

The government gave him little financial en- 
couragement. But he was recognized as an 
authority on explosives. 

During the War of 18 12, the people of New 
York became alarmed lest the British fleet should 
enter their harbor. They had a public meeting 
and appointed a committee on coast and harbor 
defense. This committee went to Mr. Fulton for 
advice. He recommended a warship to be pro- 
pelled by steam and armed with forty-four guns. 

His plans were approved and he was chosen to 
construct the first steam warship in the world. 

While working on that he was also making plans 
for a submarine war vessel. 



CHAPTER XI 



HIS WORK ENDED 



It was in the spring of 18 14, that Mr. Fulton 
was commissioned to construct the warship. He 
was full of enthusiasm. He now had an oppor- 
tunity to combine the two great forces with which 



68 ROBERT FULTON 

he delighted to work and to show the world what 
could be done with steam and gunpowder. 

Under his vigorous direction the work advanced 
with astonishing rapidity during the summer and 
autumn. He loved his work and no difficulty was 
too great for him to overcome. 

Every one was watching the progress of the 
structure with interest and satisfaction. 

In January, Mr. Fulton took a severe cold, but he 
kept at his work, going about from the shipyards to 
the foundry on bitter winter days. He was accus- 
tomed to inspect the work regularly. He moved 
among the workmen with a beaming smile for 
good work, a sharp rebuke for carelessness, a 
timely word of advice or encouragement where it 
was needed, and close inspection everywhere. 

These visits suddenly stopped, and on the 
twenty-fourth of February it was announced that 
Mr. Fulton was dead. 

This sad event was a shock to every one. The 
people of New York felt that they had lost one 
of their most gifted and distinguished citizens, a 
public benefactor. The newspapers that announced 
his death were bordered in black. All spoke of 
the event with sorrow. Clubs and societies held 
memorial meetings in his honor. The state legis- 



HIS WORK ENDED 69 

lature at Albany voted that the members should 
wear mourning badges in his honor for a stated 
time. 

Hundreds of friends, from the dignitaries of the 
city to the humble mechanic, followed his remains 
from the Fulton home on State street to Trinity 
Church; a salute was fired from the Battery, and 
the flags on all the ships in the harbor were at half- 
mast. The body was interred in the Livingston 
tomb in Trinity churchyard. 

Mr. Fulton had never filled a public office, and it 
was said that no other private citizen had been so 
generally mourned. 

The cities and countries of the earth are now 
joined in peaceful commerce by great railroads and 
strong steamboats that are driven across the ocean 
by screw propellers instead of side wheels. The 
means by which Fulton thought to accomplish the 
result have been somewhat changed, but the ends 
he worked for have been accomplished. 



THE STORY OF 

ELI WHITNEY 




ELI WHITNEY 



ELI WHITNEY 



THE INVENTOR OF THE COTTON GIN 



CHAPTER I 

CHILDHOOD 



If a teacher should ask her pupils to guess 
where Eli Whitney, the inventor of the cotton 
gin, was born, the bright-eyed girl who always 
has her hand up first, would probably answer, 
"In the South where cotton grows." And the 
other pupils would think she must be right. 

But strange as it may seem there were very few 
cotton fields in the South when Eli Whitney was 
born. And his childhood home was far away from 
them on a New England farm, near the inland 
village of Westboro, Massachusetts. 

There cold weather came early in the fall and lin- 
gered until late in the spring. The snow-covered 
hills and meadows were the only "cotton fields" 
that little Eli knew anything about. 

He was born on a bleak December day in 1765, 
more than ten years before the signing of the 
Declaration of Independence. 

73 



74 ELI WHITNEY 

The Whitney home was one of those plain New 
England farmhouses that are still common in that 
part of the country. This two-storied frame 
dwelling was built near the road. A little "stoop" 
about five feet long and three feet wide served for 
a front porch. 

But if the porch was small, the chimney was 
large, and the fireplaces were broad and deep. 
The narrow mantels above were so high that there 
was no danger of the children's breaking the plates 
and candlesticks that ornamented them. 

The ceilings were low. The rooms were lighted 
by wide old-fashioned windows with twelve small 
panes of glass in each sash. The window-sills 
were so far from the floor that Eli and his sister 
had to stand on chairs when they wanted to scratch 
pictures in the frost which, in winter, often covered 
the panes in spite of the fires in the big fire- 
places. 

In the best room there was fine furniture, which 
had been bought at the shops. But the other 
rooms were furnished chiefly with homemade 
tables and chairs. These were neat and strong, 
and the rooms were comfortable and homelike. 

Mrs. Whitney was an invalid, and died while 
Eli was still a child. The father was a stern, busi- 



CHILDHOOD 75 

ness-like man, who believed that children should be 
seen and not heard. Eli's brothers were older than 
he, and therefore his sister, who was nearest his 
age, was his favorite playmate. 

The children had few playthings, but Eli was 
seldom at a loss for amusement. Although he asked 
a great many questions, he always asked them for 
information, and not simply because he wished to 
say something. 

Almost every farmer had some sort of a shop 
where, in bad weather, he tinkered away at various 
things and mended whatever was out of order. 
Mr. Whitney's shop was well fitted with tools, and 
when not busy on the farm he worked there, making 
chairs for the house, wheels*, for his wagons, and 
many other useful articles. 

Eli was very fond of watching his father and 
older brothers while they were at work, and he soon 
learned to do many little things himself. As he 
grew older he liked to work in the shop better than 
on the farm. He examined all the machinery in the 
place until he understood it. He wanted to know 
how it was made, and was not content till he found 
out. 

His father's big silver watch was to him an object 
of wonder. How could it keep up its steady* "tick, 



7 6 



ELI WHITNEY 



tick"? What made the hands move, one so slowly, 
the other more rapidly? 

One Sunday, Mr. Whitney went to church and 
left his watch at home. Eli stole to his room and 
pried open the back of the watch to see the wheels. 
That was very interesting for awhile, but the works 
were partly hidden. One wheel was over another. 
A little metal plate covered something which he 

wanted to see. 
The curious boy 




was not long in 



AN OLD-FASHIONED WATCH 



finding the tiny 
screws that held all 
in place. He soon 
had them out, and 
took the works 
apart. 

So deeply inter- 
ested was he that 
had his father come home then, Eli would not have 
heard his step, and the stern man might have 
walked right into the room before the mischief 
maker discovered his presence. 

But fortunately for the lad, church lasted a long 
time in those days, and he had plenty of time to 
satisfy his curiosity before the odors from the 



CHILDHOOD 



77 



kitchen warned him that it would soon be dinner 
time, and his father would be at home. 

Then he felt somewhat worried, but he had 
noticed so closely the relation of each of the mem- 
bers to the others that he was able to put the deli- 
cate works together correctly. It was with a deep 
breath of relief that he heard the familiar tick, 
and he trembled whenever he saw his father look 
at the watch that day. But it was uninjured, 
and not until years later when Eli told him did Mr. 
Whitney know that it had been meddled with. 

Once after an absence of several days Mr. Whit- 
ney, on coming home, asked the housekeeper how 
each of the boys had spent his time while he was 
away. He learned that one had weeded the 
onions, and another had mended the stone wall 
between two fields. 

"But what has Eli been doing?" asked the 
father, noticing that no account was given. of him. 

"Oh, he has been making a fiddle," she 
answered. 

"Ah," said Mr. Whitney, with a sigh, "I fear 
Eli will have to take his portion in fiddles. " 

The fiddle proved to be a very fine piece of work 
for a twelve-year-old boy. It was made like any 
other violin and gave fairly good music. Every 



78 ELI WHITNEY 

one that saw it was astonished; and after that all 
the musicians in the neighborhood brought Eli 
their violins to mend when they were out of order. 
He was usually successful in discovering and cor- 
recting any faults in their mechanism. 

His father, however, looked upon this work as 
foolishness. He would have been much better 
pleased to see Eli do a good day's work on the farm. 



CHAPTER II 

YOUTH 

The New England farmers were a very intelli- 
gent class of people and understood the value of 
education. Every settlement had its little school. 

Eli Whitney went to the Westboro school, 
where he studied spelling and learned to read and 
write. When he began to study arithmetic he made 
rapid advancement and soon stood at the head of 
his class. But his pleasantest and most profitable 
hours were spent in his father's workshop. Every 
day he grew more fond of working there. 

When Eli was thirteen years old his father mar- 
ried a second time. Eli's step-mother took to her 
new home many choice possessions that she had 



YOUTH 79 

collected since her girlhood. She liked to look at 
her treasures and show them to others. 

One afternoon she was showing them to Eli and 
his sister. Among the parcels was a fine set of din- 
ner knives. When she unwrapped them Eli eagerly 
took one and examined it with a beaming face. 

Mrs. Whitney was pleased to see that the boy 
was interested. ' ' These are very fine knives, " she 
said. "They were made in England. Nothing 
like them could be made in this country." 

At this Eli looked up quickly and said: " I could 
make them myself if I had the tools; and I could 
make the tools if I had some common tools to 
work with. " 

Mrs. Whitney was displeased and reproved him. 
She did not think for a moment that this little boy 
could do such work, or that he even meant what he 
said. He seemed to her to be bragging and trying 
to make fun of her for treasuring those knives. 

However, in a few weeks Eli had an opportunity 
to prove the truth of what he had said. By accident 
one of the precious knives was broken. He took the 
pieces to the shop for a model, and with his clumsy 
tools made a knife so like the broken one that Mrs. 
Whitney could tell it from the others only by the ab- 
sence of the stamp of the manufacturer on the blade. 



8o 



ELI WHITNEY 



It is needless to say that she now regretted her 
hasty words. From that time she had much greater 
confidence in the boy's ability to do what he un- 
dertook. 

Two years later Eli began to use his skill to make 
money for his father. His occupation was nail- 
making. 

As the Revolutionary War was then in progress, 
all trade between England and America had 
stopped. There were then few man- 
ufactories of any kind on this side of 
the Atlantic. The colonies depended 
upon the mother country even for 
such little things as nails. 

Nails were made by hand and were 
much more expensive than they are 
now. Eli Whitney had often made 
small quantities of nails for family 
use, and he had done it very quickly 
and well. Now that they were so 
scarce it seemed to him that there 
would be profit in making them to 
sell. He spoke to his father about it, 
saying that " he felt sure he could 
make the work pay if he had certain tools. 

The idea pleased his father and he bought the 




HAND-MADE 

NAILS 



YOUTH 81 

necessary outfit at once. From that time till the 
close of the war the young mechanic spent all the 
time he could spare from farm labor in making 
nails. It proved such a profitable employment that 
he enlarged his shop and took an assistant. 

After the war was over, nails were again shipped 
to this country and sold for less than young Whit- 
ney could afford to make them. He saw that it was 
useless to try to work against the great nail makers 
of England. 

But he would not think of letting his shop lie idle. 
He turned it into a factory for the making of walk- 
ing sticks and hat pins. He was as successful in 
manufacturing these little articles as he had been 
in making nails. He was careless in nothing, and 
often said, ' ' Whatever is worth doing at- all, is 
worth doing well. " 

Mr. Whitney had long ceased to regret Eli's 
fondness for tinkering about the shop. He now 
expected him to settle down and become a con- 
tented, self-supporting mechanic. 

But Eli was not satisfied to do this. As he grew 
older he took more interest in books. In one way 
or another he had picked up a great deal of general 
information, and had acquired a surprising amount 
of useful knowledge. He saw that those who sue- 



82 ELI WHITNEY 

ceeded in life -were educated men; and he was 
ambitious to be more than a common day laborer. 

Accordingly, when he was nineteen years old he 
decided to go to Yale College and get a thorough 
education. 

His father was surprised and somewhat pleased 
at the idea of having one of his sons go to college. 
But when the good man spoke to his wife about it 
she firmly opposed the project. She said that Eli 
had neither the money nor the knowledge to go to 
college, and advised him not to think of it, as it 
would only make him discontented and restless. 
She told him that since he was already making a 
good living he ought to be satisfied. 

The neighbors agreed with her, and said it would 
be too bad to spoil such a good mechanic by send- 
ing him to college. 

The young man now understood that he would 
get no help from his family. What his step- 
mother had said was only too true: he had neither 
the knowledge required to enter Yale College, nor 
the money that would be required to support him 
while studying there. But he was not easily dis- 
couraged. When he made tip his mind to do 
anything he usually accomplished it. 

He said no more about the matter but worked 



YOUTH 83 

early and late to secure the two things needful To 
prepare himself for the entrance examinations he 
took his books to the shop and studied while his 
fingers did the work for which they had been 
trained. He made friends with educated people 
wherever he could, and got all the hints and helps 
possible. 

Nor was he less zealous to get money. Farm 
work, shop work, and school teaching occupied his 
time. He welcomed any task whereby he could 
earn something to add to the little stor4 he was 
saving for his education. 1 

Although he was so industrious he was\ twenty- 
three years old before he was ready to start to col- 
lege. For four years the plucky fellow had made 
a brave struggle against many difficulties, with no 
encouragement except from his faithful sister. 

And now that he was ready and could say 
proudly, "Next May I shall enter Yale College," 
an unexpected misfortune threatened to disappoint 
his hopes. 

He was taken ill and suffered for weeks from a 
severe fever. For a time his life was in danger. 
But, the fever having finally been broken, he slowly 
gained strength and in May he was able to go to 
college as he had hoped. 



84 ELI WHITNEY 

CHAPTER III 

AT YALE 

Every fall hundreds of boys who have just 
finished high school go from all parts of the 
country to New Haven, to enter Yale College. 

Some arrive on the big steamboats. Others 
come in on the great railroads over which well- 
filled trains fly back and forth, to and from Boston 
and New York. 

These students find New Haven a large city. 
Many noisy factories are there. The broad ave- 
nues are bordered by beautiful homes, large busi- 
.ness blocks, and other fine buildings. Noble 
elms grow along the streets. Electric cars, and 
wagons, and carriages of all kinds rumble over the 
pavements. 

In the heart of this busy city is a great square 
called the Green, where three historic churches 
stand. 

Just beyond the Green rises a row of fine build- 
ings of brick and stone. These are some of the 
university buildings. They are so stately that they 
make the stores near by look small and common. 

Passing through a broad arch or gateway, the 



AT YALE 85 

student finds himself within the Yale yard, or 
campus. It is a large pleasant quadrangle where 
elms wave overhead, while their lacy shadows 
dance on the sunny grass. Boys and young men 
hurry up and down the long walks with armloads 
of books. 

This quadrangle is shut in by four rows of lofty 
college buildings. A line of plain, old-fashioned 
brick halls extends across it. These buildings are 
so poor and old that they look out of place beside 
the handsome new ones around them. 

When Eli Whitney looked out of the windows 
of the stage coach that took him to New Haven 
he saw only a straggling village. At that time only 
about four thousand people lived in New Haven. 
But it seemed a large town to the young man from 
Westboro. He had never dreamed of such 
elegant structures as Osborn and Vanderbilt 
Halls; and the plain brick buildings, which look to 
us poor and common, were so much better than 
the neighboring shops that they appeared grand 
and stately. 

When young Whitney went up to take his exam- 
inations, he looked with almost a feeling of rever- 
ence at the Old Chapel, the Old South, and the 
Old South Middle, as the buildings are called. 



86 ELI WHITNEY 

He passed his examinations and entered the 
first or freshman class. 

There are now almost as many teachers at 
Yale as there were students then. At that 
time the president and two or three assistants 
gave all of the instruction. The president had 
charge of the advanced classes. The lower classes 
were taught by young tutors. 

President Stiles was a very scholarly man. The 
students were expected to treat him with the high- 
est respect, and they really stood in great awe of 
him. When he entered the chapel all rose and 
remained standing while he walked down the aisle 
bowing with gracious dignity to the right and to 
the left. 

If a boy went to the president's house to see him 
on some school business, no matter how cold it 
was, he took his hat off at the gate and kept it off 
until he left the yard again. 

Though the tutors were young men who had not 
been out of school very long themselves, they were 
treated with almost as high regard as the presi- 
dent. 

The seniors had great power over the lower 
classes. Shortly after school opened each year 
there was a meeting of the freshman and senior 



AT YALE 87 

classes. The freshmen formed a line along one 
side of the long hall and the seniors lined up along 
the opposite side. Then the gravest and most dig- 
nified member of the senior class stepped forward 
and gave the freshmen a lecture on college rules 
and manners. 

The younger students were expected to obey 
all the orders of the seniors, and were punished 
severely by them for disrespectful behavior. 

It would have been very hard for Mr. Whitney, 
who was then twenty-three years old, to submit to 
the tyranny of the youths of the upper classes. 
But he had very little to do with them. He found 
that he could get board in a private family for 
much less than it would cost him to live at the col- 
lege halls, and he took advantage of that chance to 
save his money. 

During the first year he studied Latin, the 
Greek Testament, and arithmetic. He had the 
power to put his whole mind on one subject and 
keep it there as long as he wanted to, and there- 
fore it did not take him long to get his lessons. 

He found that he would have some extra time 
for work. A carpenter was working at the house 
where he boarded. Mr. Whitney asked if he 
might use his tools. The man was afraid the col- 



88 ELI WHITNEY 

lege student would injure them, and refused to let 
him take them. The owner of the house heard the 
conversation. He had formed so high an opinion 
of his boarder that he asked the man to lend him 
his tools, saying that he would pay for whatever was 
broken. 

The carpenter gave his consent, but watched 
critically while the college man began to work. He 
was so astonished when he saw how adroitly he 
handled every tool, that he exclaimed, "There was 
one good mechanic spoiled when you went to col- 
lege. " After that Mr. Whitney was permitted to 
use the tools whenever he liked. 

Thus by doing occasional odd jobs, and by 
working during vacations, he was able to continue 
at college for the entire course. 

As he went into higher classes, he had to spend 
more time in study. In the second year he took 
geography, grammar, rhetoric, algebra, geometry, 
and the catechism, in addition to Greek and Latin. 
The teachers were very exacting, and required the 
pupils to learn their lessons word for word. Some 
of the text books were dry and uninteresting. 

In the third or junior year young Whitney com- 
menced the study of trigonometry and philosophy. 
He liked both of those subjects very much. 



AT YALE 89 

It was with keen pleasure that he went to his 
recitations in natural philosophy. They were held 
on the second floor of the Old College, in a corner 
room where the shutters were usually mysteriously 
closed. There all of the delicate instruments 
belonging to the college were kept. A telescope, 
an air-pump, a magic lantern, and an electrical 
machine were among its treasures. 

One day the teacher of this class said that he 
was unable to make a certain experiment because 
his instrument was broken. He added that it would 
be necessary to send it to Europe to have it put 
in order, as there were no mechanics in this coun- 
try skillful enough to mend it. 

Eli Whitney looked at it for a moment, and 
then said, "I see just what is the matter, and I 
think there is no reason why I cannot mend it. " 

Although the teacher had great confidence in his 
student, he was surprised at this offer and scarcely 
willing to trust such a valuable instrument to him. 
However, when Mr. Whitney explained to him 
what would have to be done, and assured him that 
he could do it, he consented to let him try. The 
clever workman put it in perfect order, to the sur- 
prise and delight of both teacher and classmates. 

By that time he had begun to take a more active 



9 o ELI WHITNEY 

part in college life. He was known and liked by 
the students of all classes, and was a prominent 
member of one of the literary societies. 

He made life-long friendships at college with 
men who were to be the social and political leaders 
of their time. And he graduated with credit in the 
spring of 1792. 



CHAPTER IV 

IN GEORGIA 



Having finished college, Mr. Whitney wished to 
study law and become a lawyer. He had spent 
all his own money and had even borrowed some 
from his father to finish his course at Yale. It 
would therefore be necessary for him to earn more 
before he could go on with his study. 

While he was looking about for something to do, 
he was offered a position as teacher in a small pri- 
vate school in Georgia. He had had some expe- 
rience in teaching. Then, too, it would be very 
pleasant and instructive to spend a winter in the 
South. So he accepted the position. 

It was a hard journey over land from New Haven 
to Georgia; for in those days there were no rail- 



IN GEORGIA 91 

roads, and only very poor wagon roads. For this 
reason the young traveler embarked on one of the 
slow boats and went by sea. 

He was not alone on his voyage. At New York 
he met Mrs. Greene and her children who were 
on their way to their beautiful southern home at 
Mulberry Grove, a few miles from Savannah. 
Mrs. Greene was the widow of the great General 
Nathanael Greene whose victories in the South are 
remembered by every schoolboy that has read 
the history of the Revolution. 

Mrs. Green was a brilliant little woman. She 
was admired and loved by George and Martha 
Washington, and accustomed to the gayest and 
most elegant society in the land. Perhaps it was 
because her famous husband had been so deeply 
interested in young men who had gone through 
college and were trying to make something of their 
lives, that she took such an interest in the young 
New England school teacher and mechanic. 

She was very kind to Mr. Whitney and made 
him feel quite at home in her party. It pleased 
her to see her boys and girls fond of him. They 
had not been together many days before she had 
made up her mind that Eli Whitney was no ordi- 
nary young man. 




GENERAL NATHANAEL GREENE 



(92) 



IN GEORGIA 93 

When he reached Savannah Mr. Whitney found 
that the position he had come to fill was not as 
had been represented to him. The salary was 
only half as large as he had expected. This was 
a great disappointment. 

On hearing of his trouble, Mrs. Greene said, 
"Do not think of taking the position. Come to 
my home and wait till a better opportunity offers. 
In the meantime you can study law. You will be 
very welcome. It will be a great pleasure to us to 
have you with us for a few weeks. " 

Her children, who were delighted at the idea of 
having their new friend at their home, added their 
affectionate entreaties to their mother's invitation. 
So he was persuaded to visit Mulberry Grove, 
although he hesitated to refuse the school, and 
still thought of taking it if he could get nothing 
better. 

He found Mulberry Grove to be a beautiful 
estate situated on the Savannah River, about four- 
teen miles from the city of Savannah. 

The house was large and magnificent, and fur- 
nished with all possible luxury and elegance; 
for it had been the home of the Tory governor 
of Georgia in the days before the Revolution. 
To Mr. Whitney, one of the most attractive 



94 ELI WHITNEY 

features of the house, was the large, well-stocked 
library. 

Around the house was a beautiful garden where 
all sorts of flowers and fruits grew in abundance. 
Peaches, apricots, figs, oranges, and plums were in 
various stages of perfection. The whistle of the 
mocking bird in the magnolia trees trilled through 
the warm air. 

In the rear of the mansion was the large kitchen, 
in a separate building. Beyond that were the 
smokehouse, the coach house, the stables, and the 
poultry pens fitted for the accommodation of thou- 
sands of fowls. 

In the distance extended vast corn and rice fields, 
where the negroes in gay garments were at work 
planting, cultivating, or harvesting. 

Mr. Whitney was much interested in the great 
plantation. Such* luxury was surprising to one 
brought up as he had been. Even at that time 
there was a strong spirit against slavery in some 
parts of New England. The visitor at Mulberry 
Grove shared that feeling, and observed the planta- 
tion slaves with great interest and sympathy. He 
learned that they were much afraid of the small- 
pox, and shortly after his arrival he vaccinated 
all of them. 



THE OPPORTUNITY 95 

Mr. Whitney tried in every way possible to show 
his appreciation of the kindness of his hostess. If 
anything was out of order in the house or on the 
plantation he seemed to know exactly what was 
needed to make it right. 

One day he heard Mrs. Greene complain that 
her embroidery frame tore the threads of the deli- 
cate cloth she was embroidering. He looked at it 
and pronounced it a clumsy contrivance. He left 
the room, and soon came back with a very different 
frame exactly suited to the purpose. 

"Where did you get it?" asked Mrs. Greene. 

"I made it," he replied, helping her to adjust 
the work on the new frame. 

" But it is such a fine idea," she went on enthu- 
siastically. " Where did you get the idea?" 

"Oh, I made that too," he answered, laughing. 



CHAPTER V 

THE OPPORTUNITY 



Mrs. Greene was a woman of much importance 
and had great social influence. She was acquainted 
with the most prominent families in the country, 
and was very popular. In the dark days of the 



96 ELI WHITNEY 

war, her husband said that whenever the news 
reached camp that she was coming to make him a 
visit, the whole camp was glad. While enjoying 
one of those happy visits the great soldier wrote to 
a friend: "Her cheerful countenance and ready 
tongue quite triumph over my grave face. " 

Now that the bright little northern lady had 
come to make her home in the South, old army 
officers and neighboring planters frequently stopped, 
on their way to and from Savannah, to have a visit 
at Mulberry Grove. 

One afternoon, when a large party of officers and 
plantation owners from the neighborhood of 
Augusta were at the plantation, the conversation 
was about the discouraging state of affairs in the 
South, the heavy debt, and the number of people 
that were going west. One said, ' ' If we could 
only find a way to separate rapidly the short-staple 
cotton from the seed it would bring new life to 
the South. " The others agreed that this was so. 

" Now, " thought Mrs. Greene, "is the time to 
interest these influential men in my poor young 
friend, Mr. Whitney." Then she said, "Gentle- 
men, I have a friend who has just come from the 
North, a graduate of Yale College. He is a perfect 
genius at contriving machinery. Indeed, it seems 



THE OPPORTUNITY 



97 



to me he can make anything. Explain to him 
what is wanted, and I am sure he can help you." 

Then she showed them her embroidery frame, 
and explained its good points, while a servant went 
to call the young man. 

Mr. Whitney 
was in his room 
studying hard in 
a great law book, 
not thinking of 
the beautiful 
country around 
him, or of its 
products, when 
the polite serv- 
ant summoned 
him to go below 
to meet some 
gentlemen. 

" Perhaps 
they are lawyers. 
This may be an 
opportunity, " he 
thought to himself as he hurried down stairs. 

He listened eagerly to what the gentlemen said, 
and learned a great deal about cotton. He 




SEA-ISLAND COTTON 



9 8 



ELI WHITNEY 



became much interested in the subject, and prom- 
ised to see what he could do. 

In those days tobacco and indigo were the chief 
products of the inland plantations. Large quan- 
tities of rice and some cotton were raised near the 

coast. 

There are two kinds 
of cotton that may 
be compared just as 
we compare two va- 
rieties of peaches. 
You know that, while 
all peaches are very 
much alike, there are 
two kinds, the free- 
stone peach from 
which the stone is 
easily removed, and 
the clingstone peach 
whose stone and pulp 
adhere so closely that 
it is almost impossi- 
ble to separate them. 
It is so with cotton. 
There is one black-seed, long-staple variety, that 
is called sea-island cotton, since it grows well only 




GREEN-SEED COTTON 



THE OPPORTUNITY 99 

near salt water. The seeds of this cotton are 
removed with little difficulty. Then there is the 
green-seed, short-staple cotton which can be raised 
on inland plantations. The fiber and seeds cling 
to each other so closely that it is hard work to get 
them apart. 

For years the planters along the coast had raised 
enough of the first kind for family use. A rude 
machine, called a roller gin, was used for separating 
this cotton wool from the seeds. It consisted of two 
wooden rollers which turned towards each other 
and acted on the same principle as the common 
clothes-wringer. The staple passed between these 
rollers, and the seeds were either squeezed back 
or crushed in passing through, just as you have 
seen buttons treated by a wringer. 

Recently large crops of short-staple, green-seed 
cotton had been raised successfully on the high 
land. The climate and soil of the upper country, 
where rice could not be cultivated, were well 
suited to the growth of this cotton. 

Improvements in the method of spinning and 
weaving had made a great demand for cotton, and 
the planters of the upper country wished to turn 
their tobacco fields into cotton fields. But after 
the cotton was raised there was no machine to 
L.ofC. 



IOO 



ELI WHITNEY 



separate the seeds from the fiber. The roller 
gin could not be used with this kind of cotton, and 
the separating had to be done by hand. 

It was a day's work for a woman to pick the 
seeds from a pound of cotton, and the women 
servants were needed for other work. 




THE OLD WAY OF CLEANING COTTON 

It was customary on the plantations where cotton 
was raised to require the slaves to spend their 
evenings cleaning it. Men, women, and children 
sat in circles working by the light of tallow candles. 
Sometimes they sat quiet and sullen at their work. 
Sometimes they sang plantation songs, or told 
stories, or made rude jokes and laughed heartily, 



THE OPPORTUNITY 101 

showing gleaming rows of white teeth. But, what- 
ever expression the dark faces, bent over the snowy 
cotton, wore, the fingers worked busily, for there 
was an overseer close at hand to see that there 
was no idleness. 

Every family of slaves was expected to separate 
about four and a half pounds in a week in addition 
to doing the field work. The slaves did not like 
it, and their masters were little better satisfied. At 
best, it was slow work, and the planters were anx- 
ious to find an improved method for removing the 
seeds. 

Not many days passed before some of Mrs. 
Greene's friends came back to see what progress 
the Northerner had made in solving the problem. 
Eli Whitney had not been idle. 

He had never seen cotton in the seed, and as 
there was none to be had at Mulberry Grove, he 
had gone to Savannah to get some. 

He had experimented a little with it, and had 
formed a rough plan for a machine. He said that 
he had thought the matter over carefully and did 
not doubt that he could make a machine to do the 
work. But it would be an expensive undertaking, 
and would so interrupt his law studies that he could 
not afford to go into it. 



102 ELI WHITNEY 

His hearers assured him that in case he suc- 
ceeded he was sure to make a fortune. But he 
still shook his head. Success was doubtful, he 
said, even if he made a good model. Others would 
use his invention before he could get money to 
make his machines and put them on the market. 

They reminded him of the patent laws de- 
signed to protect inventors and prevent others 
from using their ideas without permission. He 
still hesitated, saying that it would be hard to 
enforce those laws. 

The truth was, he had no money to spend in 
making the experiment. Gradually the disap- 
pointed planters stopped urging and went away. 
Mr. Miller, the man who had charge of Mrs. 
Greene's estate, staid. He had talked much with 
Mr. Whitney and had heard him explain his 
plan. 

When all the others had gone, he said, ' ' Mr. 
Whitney I believe you can do this, and if you 
will undertake it I will become your partner. I 
will furnish all the money necessary until you get 
the patent, on condition that I receive half the 
profits when we begin work. " 

Mr. Whitney gladly accepted this generous 
offer. 



MAKING THE COTTON GIN 103 

CHAPTER VI 

MAKING THE COTTON GIN 

The important question of ' ' Who will pay for 
the venture?" having been settled, Mr. Whitney 
devoted his attention to the still greater one, " How 
may cotton be separated from the seed ? " 

He had formed, a rough plan for a machine which 
he thought would answer the question satisfac- 
torily. The next thing in order was to test his 
plan by making the machine and trying it. 

Mrs. Greene and Mr. Miller had high hopes of 
his success and were almost as anxious as he 
to see a cotton gin actually made and at work. 
Mrs. Greene had a shop fitted up in the basement, 
where the inventor worked behind locked doors. 

Her children were surprised to find themselves 
refused admission by their accommodating friend. 
They became very curious to know what was going 
on in the mysterious room. But the inventor met 
all their questions and jests with easy good nature, 
and let no one but his hostess and Mr. Miller into 
the secret. 

He worked under great disadvantages, for he 
lacked many necessary materials which were not 



I04 ELI WHITNEY 

to be bought even at Savannah. And it required 
almost as much ingenuity to carry out his plan as 
it had taken to make it. 

His idea was to mount a cylinder on a strong 
frame, so that it could be turned by hand, or by 
horse or water power. The cylinder was to be 
provided with rows of teeth, which passed through 
narrow openings in a curved plate or grating of 
metal. The rows of teeth, or circular saws, were 
to be about three fourths of an inch apart. The 
cotton was to be put into a box, or hopper, so that 
it rested against the grating through which the 
saw teeth protruded. When the cylinder was 
turned, its sharp teeth would catch the cotton and 
drag it through the grating, tearing it from the 
seeds and dropping it on the other side, soft and 
clean. The seeds, which had been left behind, 
would fall to the bottom of the hopper and pass 
out through an opening just large enough to let 
them pass. They would be uninjured by the pro- 
cess, and ready to be planted for another cotton 
crop. 

Mr. Whitney worked rapidly in spite of many 
inconveniences. But when all was done except 
the cylinder, progress stopped for a time. His idea 
had been to make circular saws and mount them 



MAKING THE COTTON GIN 



105 



one after the other on the cylinder. To make them, 
he must have tin or steel plates. As he could not 
buy or make such plates, he was obliged to contrive 
some other way of making the teeth on the cyl- 
inder. 




A SMALL COTTON GIN 



One day as he was sitting in the quiet parlor, 
trying to think of something to use in place of the 
saws, one of Mrs. Greene's daughters came in with 
a coil of strong wire in her hand. 

"I have caught you at last! Won't you help 



106 ELI WHITNEY 

me make a birdcage?" she coaxed, holding out 
the wire with a bright smile. 

Mr. Whitney was always glad to use his quick 
wits and nimble fingers to please his little friends. 
But never had he performed a task more cheerfully 
than this; for the little maid had brought him a 
suggestion with her request. 

With a light heart he returned to his shop and 
was soon busy cutting pieces of wire into required 
lengths. Soon the clever workman had a wooden 
cylinder, armed with rings of wire teeth, mounted 
and ready for use. 

What an exciting moment it was when he put 
the cotton into the hopper and his hand on the 
crank! How much the result meant to the man! 
With glowing cheeks and bated breath, he watched 
the cylinder turn and the wire teeth carry through 
the openings of the plate a burden of snowy cotton 
free from seeds. 

That was a moment of victory. Past years of 
toil and patient striving were forgotten. Visions 
of comfort, luxury, and honor, thoughts of his 
father's and friends' surprise and pleasure, filled his 
mind for a moment. 

Then he dismissed those dreams and studied the 
working of the machine more closely. He saw that 



MAKING THE COTTON GIN 107 

the cotton lint clogged the teeth of the cylinder. 
There were many little improvements that must be 
made before the gin was perfect. But the main 
object was accomplished. He had made a machine 
that would separate cotton from the seed. 

In high spirits he called his friends to share his 
triumph. Both were delighted. "I knew you 
could do it," said Mrs. Greene, with tears of pleas- 
ure in her eyes. 

Mr. Miller was no less enthusiastic. ' ' Our 
fortune is made, man! You've invented a gold 
mine!" he exclaimed, bending over to examine 
the wonderful gin. 

The inventor tried to check their ardor by saying 
that the work was by no means finished. ' ' We 
must find a way to get the cotton off the teeth," 
he said, turning the crank slowly and plucking at 
the stubborn lint. 

"That is only a trifle," answered Mrs. Greene 
gayly. Then she picked up the hearth brush and 
asked with a light laugh, "Why don't you use 
that?" 

" Thank you, I will," he said, taking the offered 
brush and trying it. "And now I must get to 
work again." 

Again the doors were locked, and when the con- 



io8 ELI WHITNEY 

fidants were next admitted, they saw a second 
cylinder that turned towards the first one. It had 
rows of little brushes which met the wire teeth and 
swept the cotton off of them as the two cylinders 
revolved. 

Mrs. Greene wanted to celebrate her friend's 
success. She invited leading men from all parts 
of the state to come to Mulberry Grove to see the 
gin in operation. 

A booth was built in the garden and decorated 
with flowers and foliage. There the gin was 
exhibited. The planters stood around it and 
watched with wonder and admiration, while it did 
in a few minutes as much as had hitherto been 
called a day's work. 

That was a great day, and Eli Whitney was 
the hero of it. Every one praised and congrat- 
ulated him. They called him the benefactor of 
the South. He was in high spirits and answered 
without reserve the many questions asked by the 
planters. He talked of the difficulties he had 
had to overcome in making the model. Among 
other things, he told how he had first thought of 
using metal sheets instead of wire to make the 
teeth of the cylinder. 

A new future seemed in store for the South. In 



MAKING THE COTTON GIN 109 

fancy the planters saw endless cotton fields sweep- 
ing over hill and plain. All decided to plant their 
rich acres in cotton the next season. 

Their astonishment and satisfaction were so great 
that they could not restrain their feelings. They 
talked about the wonderful invention everywhere. 
As the news spread, crowds of curious people vis- 
ited Mulberry Grove to see the inventor and his 
marvelous machine. 

But Mr. Whitney had not yet obtained a patent 
on his machine. That is, he had not gotten from 
the government the right to control the manufac- 
ture and use, or sale, of the cotton gin. It was 
therefore thought best not to show it to many, lest 
some one should steal the idea and get a patent 
before Mr. Whitney did. Hence many visitors 
went away disappointed. 

The excitement about it was so great that the 
gin was not safe. It was kept constantly under 
lock and key. One night, in spite of that care, some 
men broke into the shed where the precious machine 
was kept and took it away. 

With all haste possible, Mr. Whitney made 
another model and sent it to the patent office at 
Philadelphia, which was then the seat of the 
national government. 



no ELI WHITNEY 

CHAPTER VII 

GREAT EXPECTATIONS 

Papers were made out, formally organizing the 
firm of Miller & Whitney. At first the two men 
thought that they would manufacture cotton gins 
and sell them to planters, or sell the right to man- 
ufacture to those who wanted to make gins. 

But they decided that it would be more profitable 
to do the ginning themselves and take their pay in 
cotton. The planters were willing to give them, in 
payment for their work, one out of every three 
pounds of cotton they ginned. 

To handle the entire cotton crop of the South 
would be an enormous undertaking. But these 
two ambitious young men had not the slightest 
doubt of their ability to do it successfully. They 
would need a large number of gins, for cotton was 
being planted in all parts of the South, and the crop 
promised to be a heavy one. 

It was agreed that Mr. Miller should make the 
terms and the contracts with the planters and look 
after the company's interests in the South, while 
Mr. Whitney started a factory and got the gins 
ready for fall work. 



GREAT EXPECTATIONS in 

The latter had found by experience that there 
were no advantages in the South for manufacturing. 
It would be necessary to make the machines in the 
North and ship them to Georgia. He felt more at 
home in his college town, New Haven, than in any 
other northern city. He knew the shipping advan- 
tages there; he knew where he could get supplies; 
he even knew good workmen whom he could 
employ. Besides, it was the place he preferred for 
his future home. 

In the spring of 1793 he started north. He went 
first to the capital to take the proper steps to secure 
his patent. Thomas Jefferson was then Secretary 
of State. He was interested in the invention, and 
said he should like to have one for his own use. 

Mr. Whitney staid at Philadelphia no longer 
than was necessary and then hastened to New 
Haven. He had many friends there who were glad 
to see him back; but he was too busy to find much 
enjoyment in their company. He did not even 
take time to visit his father's home at Westboro 
as he had hoped to do. 

Every letter he received from his partner urged 
him to push the work, and warned him that there 
would be a great demand for cotton gins. 

Mr. Whitney worked early and late, getting his 



ii2 ELI WHITNEY 

shop ready, training his workmen, and providing 
proper tools. 

As soon as the first machine was completed he 
went south with it, to see it set up and put in 
operation. The progress of the enterprise depended 
largely on the satisfaction given by the first gin; for 
on its success depended his ability to borrow money 
to pay for making others. 

The result was all that could be desired. Every- 
thing promised the most glowing success. The 
only difficulty would be to make gins fast enough. 

To enlarge the factory and push the work the 
company needed a little more money than they 
had. Many were ready to lend to such a promis- 
ing firm as Miller & Whitney, and a loan of two 
thousand dollars was secured without difficulty. 

Mr. Whitney went back to New Haven where he 
managed the building of an addition to his shop, 
and employed a large force of workmen. 

His intention was to go to England just as soon as 
he got his affairs in working order. It was important 
that he should go there without delay, to get a pat- 
ent in that country. But he was true to his old 
motto, ' ' Whatever is worth doing at all is worth 
doing well," and slighted nothing in his hurry. 

He took the greatest pains to plan every detail 



MISFORTUNES 113 

of the factory, so that the work could be most 
quickly and economically done. 

His work was delayed by his own illness and that 
of his workmen. But in spite of such hindrances 
he had his shop in the best of order when, at the 
close of the winter of 1795, he went to New York to 
attend to a few business affairs before leaving for 
England. 

He had been for two years a very busy, hard- 
working man, but a very hopeful one. All was 
going well, and the future was bright with promise. 



CHAPTER VIII 

MISFORTUNES 



After a short stay in New York Mr. Whitney 
returned to New Haven. It was a chill March day 
when he stepped off the boat at the New Haven 
dock. One of his friends came out of the crowd 
to greet him. 

"You have hard luck, Mr. Whitney," said the 
man, taking his hand. 

"Why, what's the matter?" asked Mr. Whit- 
ney, startled by the grave face of his friend. 



ii 4 ELI WHITNEY 

"You have been burned out," answered the 
other. 

With a look almost of despair the unfortunate 
man cried, "Is everything gone?" and seeing the 
other nod his head sadly, he added, ' ' This is 
indeed a misfortune," and strode off with such long 
steps that his friend could scarcely keep pace with 
him. 

Arriving at the scene of the fire he found, in place 
of his well-ordered shop, a desolate ruin. Valuable 
papers, twenty finished gins, machinery, and shop 
were all gone. The results of two years of untir- 
ing work lay in ashes. 

In every letter, Mr. Miller wrote, "We must have 
a hundred gins by fall." Those words came to 
Mr. Whitney at this moment, and he felt helpless 
and crushed. 

But he soon regained his self-control and inquired 
how the fire had started. He could find out 
nothing satisfactory about its cause. 

Everything had been done in the usual neat and 
orderly fashion. The night before, the shop had 
been swept ' ' as clean as a dwelling house. " There 
was not a ' ' hat crown of fire in both chimneys, and 
not a pailful of chips or shavings in the entire 
building." The men left the building to go to 



MISFORTUNES 115 

breakfast. They had been gone not more than ten 
or fifteen minutes before the whole building was in 
flames. When the alarm was given, every work- 
man hurried back, pail in hand, to put out. the fire. 
But they saved only the adjoining building and 
that with the greatest effort. 

As the hearths had just been swept, it was Mr. 
Whitney's opinion that the fire must have started 
from one of the brooms used for that purpose. 
But no one ever knew certainly the cause of the 
fire. 

To repair the loss it was necessary for the firm of 
Miller & Whitney, to borrow more money. It was 
not so easy that time, and they had to pay a very 
high rate of interest for it. 

Mr. Whitney received word that two other gins, 
made after the same plan as his own, but changed 
slightly, were being used in Georgia. The planters 
would have gins. They were willing to use Miller 
& Whitney's; but if they could not have them, they 
would have others. 

The trip to England had to be given up. 
Mr. Whitney used every effort to get the works 
started again and make up for lost time. 

While he was working with might and main to 
repair the losses he had suffered, another misfor- 



u6 ELI WHITNEY 

tune befell him which was perhaps the heaviest 
blow of all. It was hard to be hurried and to have 
more gins needed than he could supply. But there 
was something even harder than that possible. 
That was to have planters cease to want the gins. 

It never occurred to Mr. Whitney that this was 
possible, yet it was exactly what happened. It 
came about in this way: A large quantity of poor 
cotton was ginned in one of the Whitney gins. It 
was full of knots. The merchants to whom it was 
sold returned it. Then some ignorant or wicked 
person said the fault was due to the Whitney gin. 

Thus the report that the famous Whitney gin 
injured cotton and made it knotty was started. It 
was generally believed, and spread even to London, 
so that buyers refused to take cotton that had 
been ginned by the Whitney machine. And those 
gins which were already set up in the South stood 
idle. 

At first Mr. Whitney could scarcely take the 
matter seriously. He could not believe that intel- 
ligent men would be influenced by a charge so 
groundless and unreasonable. Some of the cotton 
that had been returned was sent to him. He 
examined it and said: "Nature and not our gin 
put those knots in the cotton. They would have 



MISFORTUNES 117 

been in it had it been ginned by hand. As for 
the gin, it is impossible for it to make such knots 
in good cotton, as any one may see by trying it." 

He soon found that, however unreasonable the 
report was, it had so influenced the merchants, 
manufacturers, and planters that they would have 
nothing to do with the Whitney gin. 

The company had had thirty gins at work in 
Georgia. Some were worked by horses or oxen, 
and some by water power. One after another they 
stopped work. Ten thousand dollars had been 
invested in land to be used for ginning. That was 
idle and unused. 

Mr. Whitney now thought that if he could go to 
England he might do much to overcome the preju- 
dice against his gin among those who bought and 
sold cotton. For he knew that if these people 
could be persuaded to have faith in the gin, the 
planters would be willing to use it. The trip would 
cost him one thousand dollars. Neither he nor his 
partner could furnish so much money, and he was 
obliged to stay at home and trust to time to cure 
men of their false notion. 

He did what he could at home to show the world 
that the charge against his gin was unjust. He 
had seed cotton sent to New Haven where he 



n8 ELI WHITNEY 

ginned it to the satisfaction of every one. Samples 
were widely distributed. An agent was sent out 
through the Carolinas, and even across the moun- 
tains to Tennessee, to investigate the cotton indus- 
try and introduce the Whitney gin. 

The prejudice against the gin gradually died 
out. But in the meantime a patent had been 
granted to a Georgia man on what he called an 
"improved gin." While Whitney's gin had been 
lying idle his had been gaining in popularity. 

The new gin was a saw gin. It was like the 
Whitney gin, but instead of making the teeth for 
the cylinder of wire, the ' ' improver " had used 
sheets of metal, as Mr. Whitney had first thought 
of doing. The machine was Whitney's and the 
so-called improvement was his idea. 



CHAPTER IX 



IN THE COURTS 



Mr. Whitney had always, even in childhood, a 
keen sense of justice. He was not the man to 
stand back and quietly allow another to take what 
rightfully belonged to him. 



IN THE COURTS 119 

He saw that if steps were not taken at once 
against this man, innumerable modifications of the 
Whitney gin would spring up and take the place of 
the original one. 

If he had been an uneducated man he would not 
have known what to do, and this would probably 
have been the end of his name in connection with 
the cotton gin. But both he and his partner were 
men of intelligence. He knew something of law, 
and he understood mechanics so thoroughly that 
he was not to be deceived by apparent resem- 
blances or differences in other machines. 

In order to encourage ingenious men to give 
their time and attention to improving machinery 
and inventing useful articles, the government issues 
patent rights to inventors who apply for them. 

In Whitney's time a patent gave an inventor the 
exclusive right to make and use or sell his own 
invention for a term of fourteen years. It was his 
property, and he might sell or grant to others all or 
a portion of that right. But for any one to make 
and use or sell his machine without having received 
the right to do so from the inventor, was a legal 
offense. He who did it was said to infringe on 
the rights of the inventor, and was liable to be 
fined or otherwise punished. 



120 ELI WHITNEY 

Mr. Whitney had decided to make and use his 
own gins, and he was determined to punish all who 
infringed upon his right. 

His first suit was brought against Holmes, the 
man who had made the saw teeth of metal plate 
instead of wire. Though it was proved that the 
idea was Whitney's there was a defect in the patent 
law that made it impossible for Miller & Whitney 
to win the case. 

The law said that the accused had to be guilty 
of making, devising, and using, or selling. The 
company could only prove that this man had used, 
not that he had made the gin. 

This decision against Whitney encouraged other 
infringments on his patent. Men with gins which 
they claimed as their own inventions appeared in 
all parts of Georgia offering to gin cotton much 
below the prices asked by Miller & Whitney. 

The planters of Georgia were therefore glad to 
see the true inventor of the cotton gin defeated. 
There grew up a bitter feeling against him, and it 
seemed impossible for him to find justice in the 
courts of Georgia. 

He wrote to a friend, ' ' If taking my life would 
have done away with my claim, I should have had 
a rifle ball through me long before this time. " 



IN THE COURTS 121 

Even those who sympathized with him scarcely 
dared to go into court and tell the truth. 

Once, when his attorneys were trying to prove 
that the cotton gin had been used in Georgia, they 
had hard work to find any one who would say so, 
though at the time there were three gins at work 
so near that the noise of their wheels could be 
heard from the courthouse steps. 

One suit after another was decided against the 
inventor. Most men would have given up in 
despair, but Mr. Whitney had a will like iron. He 
believed two things: that his invention was a good 
one, and that truth would win in the end. 

And at last, after more than sixty trials, which 
cost him almost as much as he made out of the 
cotton gin, he came out victorious and proved the 
claims of his enemies to be false. 

The difference in the cylinder teeth had been 
one of the chief points of dispute. A man claimed 
to have invented a different gin because he used 
saws instead of wire teeth. Mr. Whitney was 
able to show with the help of trustworthy witnesses 
that the idea of making the teeth in that manner 
started with him. He further showed that the 
principle of the gin was the same whether the teeth 
were made of wire or on steel plates. To make this 



122 ELI WHITNEY 

point so clear that the most ignorant man on the 
jury would be convinced, he prepared two cylin- 
ders, one with saw teeth and the other with wire 
teeth. In one he buried the saws in the cylinder 
so that only the long, sharp teeth could be seen. 
In the other he attached the wire teeth to steel 
plates. When the witnesses came up to swear 
which one was the invention of Whitney and which 
the invention of Holmes, they pointed out the 
wrong one in each case. 

At the end of the long struggle all just men were 
satisfied that Eli Whitney was the first and only 
inventor of the cotton gin. 

The question was not settled, however, until a 
year before the close of the fourteen years covered 
by the patent. So, as far as money was concerned, 
it was of small benefit to him. Some years before, 
the company had sold to the states of North 
Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee the right 
of manufacture within state limits. From these 
sales Mr. Whitney and his partner received enough 
to pay for the lawsuits in Georgia, and had a few 
thousand dollars left. 

Towards the close of the struggle Mr. Whitney 
had realized that he could not depend on lawyers, 
friends, or assistants of any kind for success. He 



IN THE COURTS 123 

saw that whatever was gained must be gained 
through his own efforts. As his business was 
extended over a wide territory, he had to do a great 
deal of traveling. In going from New Haven to 
Savannah he often rode overland in a little two- 
wheeled cart. The roads were very poor. There 
were few stopping-places, and those journeys 
required great exertion and exposure. 

He wrote to a friend about these frequent trips 
saying, ' ' I am perpetually on the wing and, wild- 
goose-like, spend my summers in the North, and at 
the approach of winter, shape my course for the 
regions of the South. But I am an unfortunate 
goose. Instead of winging through the airy heights 
with a select company of faithful companions, I 
must slowly wade through mud and dirt, a sol- 
itary traveler." 

The cotton gin cost its inventor thirteen of the 
best years of his life. He gave to it his splendid 
business ability and his rare genius. In return he 
received a little more than enough to pay his debts, 
fame on two continents, and the knowledge that 
he had multiplied the riches of southern planters, 
and that he deserved the gratitude of every 
man, woman and child, who sleeps snugly under 
a soft cotton-filled comfort on a winter night, 



124 ELI WHITNEY 

or who wears a cool cotton garment on a summer 
day. 

An effort was made to lengthen the term of the 
patent. But men, to whom Mr. Whitney's inven- 
tion had brought in six months more than he had 
gained from it in fourteen years, said that if that 
was done Mr. Whitney would become too rich. 
And the attempt failed. 



CHAPTER X 

MAKING ARMS 

Several years before the term of Mr. Whitney's 
patent was ended he had come to the conclusion 
that he would never obtain a fortune from his 
cotton gin. He therefore made up his mind to go 
into another business. 

His patent affairs had taken him often to the 
national capital. He was well acquainted there. 
The president and many of the leading states- 
men were his friends. They looked upon him as 
a man who united remarkable originality of thought 
with unusual aptitude for work. 

When he said that the United States ought to 
manufacture its own firearms, and that he was 
thinking of starting a factory for that purpose, he 



MAKING ARMS 



125 



met with encouragement from these men. He was 
promised orders, and money was advanced by the 
government to help him establish his factory. 




ARMORY AT NEW HAVEN 



He chose the location of his armory with good 
judgment. About two miles from New Haven is a 
rugged mountain, called East Rock. At its foot 



126 ELI WHITNEY 

flows a clear stream whose course is broken by a 
fall. In this picturesque valley Mr. Whitney built 
his armory and planned to build a mansion. The 
spot was as convenient as it was beautiful. The 
waterfall furnished power to run the machinery, 
and the mountain furnished stone for the walls of 
the buildings. 

The armory was one of the largest manufac- 
turing establishments in the country. All strangers 
who visited New Haven went to Whitneyville to 
see it. An observant visitor might read in every 
detail of the institution, down to the very door 
fastenings, the boyhood motto of its founder, 
' ' Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing 
well." 

The artistically grouped stone buildings with 
their arches and gables, the great iron millwheels, 
the stream walled with stone, and the pretty 
bridge attracted even the careless visitors. 

As the manufacture of arms on a large scale was 
new work in the United States, Mr. Whitney had 
to make much of his own machinery and train his 
workmen. It required skilled artisans to make 
arms as well as they were made in England, but Mr. 
Whitney adopted a new plan. Instead of having 
one man make all the barrels, another all the locks, 



MAKING ARMS 127 

and so on, he had all the barrels made at one 
time, all the locks made at another time, and so 
on. Every man had some one simple thing to do 
by hand or by machine on each part. This made 
it very easy for men to learn the trade. 

The machinery for the work was so exact that 
there was no trouble about the parts of the muskets 
fitting as some had said there would be. Each 
lock would exactly fit any one of a thousand guns. 
At first the makers of arms in other countries 
laughed and said that such a method could never 
succeed. But they soon stopped laughing, and 
before long adopted the Whitney method them- 
selves. It is the method used to-day, not only in 
making arms but in manufacturing almost all 
complicated articles. 

Mr. Whitney's inventions for making arms are 
said to have shown as much mechanical genius as 
the cotton gin. But he had had enough to do 
with patents, and so he got none of those machines 
patented. 

He was kept busy with large orders from the 
national and state governments. He found that 
making instruments of war was much more profitable 
than his contribution to the arts of peace had been. 

The future began to look brighter. The settle- 



128 ELI WHITNEY 

ment of the cotton-gin struggle relieved him of a 
great eare and much anxiety. The success of his 
large armory promised independence and comfort 
for the future. 



CHAPTER XI 

LAST YEARS 



This great inventor, who knew so much about 
the strong and useful, cared for the gentle and 
beautiful as well. He had not worked so many 
years merely that he might be rich in gold and bonds. 

He liked beautiful things; he loved refined and 
educated people; he longed for a happy home. It 
was to enjoy these blessings that he wished to 
succeed in business. 

He was faithful and tender-hearted. Family and 
kindred were always dear to him. His sister had 
been his comrade and confidant. He associated 
his brother with him in business. Even where he 
felt no special affection he was always courteous. 
In his long letters to his father he never forgot to 
send his best regards to his stepmother. 

During the busiest periods of his life he found 
time to win new friends and enjoy old ones. Men 



LAST YEARS 139 

whom he met in business were sure to invite him to 
their homes, and the ladies he met there always 
asked him to come again. 

He was a tall fine-looking man. The most 
noticeable features of his strong, kind face were the 
keen but pleasant eyes and the firm chin. His hair 
curled slightly over a high forehead. 

Though usually dignified and somewhat stately, 
he could unbend and enjoy a merry frolic with the 
little folks of his acquaintance, with whom he was 
a great favorite. 

His voice was full and deep, and his conversation 
was entertaining as well as instructive. Moments 
snatched from business and spent in pleasant talk 
were very precious to him. 

It is not surprising, then, that as business cares 
became fewer, he spent much of his time in the 
society of friends. His carriage was seen frequently 
in front of Judge Edward's door, and in January, 
1817, the distinguished Mr. Whitney's marriage 
with the judge's youngest daughter was celebrated. 

The years that followed were full of happiness. 
Mr. Whitney was not so wealthy as he deserved to 
be, but he could completely forget past disappoint- 
ments and wrongs in the pleasures which he de- 
rived from his home and friends, 



130 ELI WHITNEY 

He enjoyed inventing little things for the house. 
Once he made Mrs. Whitney a fine bureau. It 
was fitted with many drawers that were all locked 
by locking the top one. It was easy to keep mis- 
chievous children and prying servants out of that 
bureau. Mrs, Whitney thought it a wonder and 
her husband the cleverest man in the world. And 
the inventor thought his wife's pleased surprise and 
her bright smiles the best reward in the world. 

Surely no other children ever had so many 
ingenious toys as Mr. Whitney contrived for his 
happy little ones, and I am sure he got as much 
pleasure out of them as they did. 

We are glad to know that the closing years of 
his life were happy and peaceful. 

He died in 1825, and was buried in the New 
Haven cemetery. A costly monument marks his 
grave. A beautiful street in New Haven bears his 
name. But his invention of the cotton gin is his 
greatest monument. 



THE STORY OF 

SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 




SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 



SAMUEL F.B. MORSE 



THE INVENTOR OF THE TELEGRAPH 



CHAPTER I 



THE PARSONAGE 



Long ago in the days when George Washington 
was president of the United States, a comfortabl 
dwelling stood at the foot of Breed's Hill on the 
main street of Charlestown, Massachusetts. There 
was a big knocker on the front door of this house. 
That was not strange, for many front doors in 
Charlestown had large brass knockers, and this 
was no larger and no handsomer than others. 
But probably no other knocker in the quiet little 
village was used so often in the course of a day 
as this particular one. 

Men in broadcloth and men in homespun used 
that knocker. Liveried coachmen with powdered 
wigs gave dignified raps therewith, to announce 
the arrival of dainty ladies clad in rustling silks. 

133 



134 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

Women in tidy calico gowns tapped gentle, 
neighborly taps with it. Important-looking men, 
on horseback, muffled in long black traveling 
cloaks, sometimes hammered away with respectful 
moderation. Poor people with sad faces and shabby 
garments came too, with modest, timid taps. 

The door opened wide to all. Some staid within 
only a few moments; many made longer visits. 
But nearly all left looking well pleased with the 
world. For this was the home of Mr. and Mrs. 
Morse, and no one could look cross or unhappy 
after a visit with them. 

Mr. Morse was a Congregational clergyman. 
He was a good preacher, and often his sermons 
were printed. He once sent to George Washing- 
ton, with whom he was acquainted, a sermon on 
the duties of citizens of the United States, and the 
president wrote him a pleasant letter to thank him 
for it. 

The First Congregational Church was filled every 
Sunday with men and women who were eager 
to hear what Mr. Morse had to say on religious 
matters. The church members were fond of their 
able preacher, and when he got married they 
showed their affections by the presents they gave 
to help furnish his house. He sent a list of these 



THE PARSONAGE 135 

gifts to his father and here it is: "An iron bake- 
pan and teakettle; a japanned box for sugar; three 
iron pots, two iron skillets, a spider, loaf of sugar, 
mahogany tea table, five handsome glass decant- 
ers, twelve wine-glasses, two pint-tumblers, a soup- 
tureen, an elegant tea set of china, two coffee pots, 
four bowls, a beautiful lantern, a japanned waiter. " 
Some of these seem to us rather odd wedding 
presents, but Mr. Morse was well pleased with all 
of them. The simple, inexpensive articles prove 
that the poor as well as the rich wished to show 
their good will to their preacher. 

Mr. Morse's influence extended beyond his 
church. He was widely known and respected. 
He was a graduate of Yale College; and had read 
and studied more than most men of his time. 
Distinguished foreigners traveling in America often 
brought letters of introduction to Mr. Morse and 
were entertained at his home. 

Because he was a wide-awake man, interested 
in all questions of public importance, his own 
countrymen and fellow townsmen liked to discuss 
questions of the day with him. Business men 
were glad to talk over their affairs with a man who 
had such sound judgment and gave such sensible 
advice. 



136 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

But not all of the guests at the parsonage came 
to see the tall, dignified young preacher who looked 
so grave and stern and talked so pleasantly. Mrs. 
Morse had many friends of her own. She belonged 
to a distinguished family. Her father was a judge 
and her grandfather had been president of Prince- 
ton College. She was well educated and very 
clever. Besides, she was gracious and kind-hearted, 
and knew how to make everyone feel at ease. 

At first, the Charlestown ladies were afraid the 
young wife from New York would be a little stiff 
and formal. They were delighted to- find her 
simple and friendly instead. She quite won the 
hearts of the plainer women by remarking that she 
liked Charlestown because the ladies were so 
informal and went calling in calico dresses. This 
remark was repeated on all sides, and the ladies 
soon felt free to "drop in" for neighborly visits. 
Sometimes she spent the afternoon reading to her 
friends from her favorite books. At other times 
she sewed, while she chatted with genuine interest 
about bed quilts, preserves, and other household 
matters; for she was a fine housekeeper. 

When Mr. Morse had distinguished guests Mrs. 
Morse always helped him entertain them. The 
"elegant tea set of china" was then brought into 



THE PARSONAGE 137 

use, and the guests were served by their hostess with 
fragrant tea and golden sponge cake of her own mak- 
ing. All were delighted by her ready wit and lively 
conversation. Colonel Baldwin, who came often 
to talk with Mr. Morse about a great canal which 
was being built under his directions, said after- 
wards: "Madam's conversation and cup of tea 
removed mountains in the way of making the 
canal." Most people found the parsonage an 
attractive place to spend an evening and soon 
became deeply attached to Mr. and Mrs. Morse. 
As time passed they gained a wide circle of 
friends. 

On the twenty-seventh of April, 1791, their first 
son, the hero of our story, was born, and everyone 
had high hopes for the child of two such worthy 
parents. Dr. Witherspoon, the great scholar who 
had followed Mrs. Morse's grandfather as presi- 
dent of Princeton College, took the little one in his 
arms and bending his white head over the child, 
blessed him and prayed that he would live to be 
as good and great a man as his great-grandfather. 

Others were as much interested but not so seri- 
ous. Dr. Belknap of Boston wrote to Postmaster- 
General Hazard, in New York: "Congratulate the 
Monmouth Judge [that was the baby's grandfather] 



138 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

on the birth of a grandson. Next Sunday he is 
to be loaded with names, not quite so many as the 
Spanish ambassador who signed the treaty of peace 
of 1783, but only four! As to the child, I saw him 
asleep, so can say nothing of his eye, or his genius 
peeping through it. He may have the sagacity of 
a Jewish rabbi, or the profundity of a Calvin, or 
the sublimity of a Homer, for aught I know. But 
time will bring forth all things. " 

The four names that the wee, little baby was to 
be loaded with, were the names of his father, his 
grandfather, and his great-grandfather — Samuel 
Finley Breese Morse. They were well known and 
honored names when they were given to the baby; 
but they are better known to-day and more highly 
honored because he bore them. 



CHAPTER II 



EARLY INFLUENCES 



The baby was christened Samuel Finley Breese 
Morse; and that name was written in the family 
Bible. But it was too long for every-day use and 
the child was called simply ' ' Finley" by his 
parents and playmates. 



EARLY INFLUENCES 139 

Little Finley spent the first seven years of his 
happy childhood in the pleasant parsonage in 
Charlestown. He was trustful, and quick to make 
friends, and grew up to be a gentle, affectionate 
boy, obedient to his parents, kind to his little 
brothers, and polite to strangers. But he was by 
no means perfect, and his love of fun sometimes 
got him into trouble. 

His education was begun very early. He was 
not sent to kindergarten, for there was no kinder- 
garten then. But when he was four years old his 
father put him in charge of a poor old lady who 
kept a little primary school. This school was so 
near the parsonage that Mrs. Morse could stand at 
the front gate and watch the little fellow until he 
was safe inside the schoolhouse door. The 
teacher was known among the village people as 
"Old Ma'am Rand." That title does not sound 
very dignified, but the people who used it meant 
no disrespect to the aged lady. She, poor 
woman, was so lame that she could not leave her 
chair. 

Now Dame Rand always remembered that the 
children were sent to her to learn to say their 
a, b, c's, to count, to spell, to read, and to write. 
The wee tots did not always remember this, but 



140 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

sometimes seemed to think they were sent to 
school to whisper and play. At such times the 
teacher found that she could bring her wayward 
pupils to order most quickly by using a long rattan 
rod that reached clear across the room. 

One day Finley Morse was so quiet that she for- 
got he was in the room until she heard the boy 
who sat next to him laugh. Then she saw that 
Finley was drawing something on an old chest of 
drawers which stood at the back of the room. 
She reached out her long rattan and touched his 
shoulder. "What are you doing, Finley Morse?" 
she demanded, so sharply that Finley jumped and 
looked frightened. 

"Just making a picture," he said, hanging his 
head while his comrade giggled. 

"What are you making it with?" she asked. 

"This pin," he answered, holding up a strong 
brass pin. 

Then the teacher noticed that the other boy was 
looking at the drawing as if it were interesting, and 
she inquired grimly, " What is the picture?" 

"A picture of a lady," replied the small culprit, 
looking exceedingly uncomfortable. 

That was enough; the old lady knew quite well 
whose picture these little artists liked to draw, and 



EARLY INFLUENCES 141 

she was not at all flattered by their choice. ' ' Bring 
the pin to me, " she commanded sternly. 

The youngster, all unconscious of what was in 
store for him meekly obeyed. When he came 
within reach of the schoolmistress she grasped 
him firmly and taking the pin, pinned him to her 
own dress. She looked so severe that Finley was 
frightened. He screamed and struggled until he 
tore the teacher's dress and got away. 

When Finley Morse was seven years old he had 
learned all that was taught at Dame Rand's school. 
His father wished him to have a good education. 
As there were no good public schools, Mr. Morse 
decided to send Finley to Andover, first to a gram- 
mar school, and then to Phillips Academy, where 
he should stay until he knew enough to enter Yale 
College. 

Accordingly, as soon as Finley had finished 
the primary school his little trunk was neatly 
packed with new clothes, and the seven-year-old 
boy said good-by to his parents and younger 
brothers and the dear old home, and went off to 
live among strangers. He was a manly little fel- 
low and had been brought up to look forward with 
pleasure to the time when he should be old enough 
to go away to school. He studied hard and was 



142 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

happy enough at school, but you may be sure he 
counted the days as vacation approached when he 
was to go home for a visit. 

He was required to write often to his father to 
give an account of his life at school. His father 
was such a busy man that the great Daniel 
Webster said of him, he was "always thinking, 
always writing, always talking, always acting." 
Yet he found time to write to his son long letters 
full of good advice. Finley read these letters over 
and over again and then put them carefully away. 
He saved some of them to the end of his life. 
Here is part of a letter which Mr. Morse wrote to 
his nine-year-old son: 

Charlestown, February, 21, 1801. 
"My dear Son: You do not write to me as 
often as you ought. In your next, you must 
assign some reason for this neglect. Possibly I 
have not received all of your letters. Nothing will 
improve you so much in epistolary writing as prac- 
tice. Take great pains with your letters. Avoid 
vulgar phrases. Study to have your ideas perti- 
nent and correct, and clothe them in easy and 
grammatical dress. Pay attention to your spell- 
ing, pointing, the use of capitals, to your hand- 
writing. After a little practice these things will 
become natural, and you will thus acquire a habit 



EARLY INFLUENCES 143 

of writing correctly and well. General Washing- 
ton was a remarkable instance of what I have now 
recommended to you. His letters are a perfect 
model for epistolary writers. They are written 
with great uniformity in respect to the handwriting 
and disposition of the several parts of the letter. 
I will show you some of his letters when I have the 
pleasure of seeing you next vacation, and when I 
shall expect to find you much improved. 

Your natural disposition, my dear son, renders 
it proper for me earnestly to recommend to you to 
attend to one thing at a time; it is impossible that 
you can do two things well at the same time, and 
I would therefore never have you attempt it. . . 
This steady and undissipated attention to one 
object is a sure mark of a superior genius; as 
hurry, bustle, and agitation, are the never-failing 
symptoms of a weak and frivolous mind. I expect 
you will read this letter over several times, that 
you may retain its contents in your memory. Give 
me your opinion on the advice I have given you. 
If you improve this well, I shall be encouraged 
to give you more, as you may need it. " 

This letter shows us how much the father 
expected of his son and how anxious he was to 
have him improve in every way. 

Finley did his best to fulfill his father's hopes. 
He read and wrote more than most of his class- 



144 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

mates. He was especially fond of reading the 
lives of great men. When he was thirteen years 
old he wrote an essay on Demosthenes, which was 
so good that a copy of it was sent to his father who 
kept it as long as he lived. 

When Finley Morse was fourteen years old he 
finished the course at the academy and was admit- 
ted to the freshman class at Yale college. Dr. 
Morse thought it wise, however, not to send him 
to college until he was a year older, and so the boy 
studied at home until the year 1807. 



CHAPTER III 

COLLEGE LIFE 

Dr. Timothy Dwight, the president of Yale 
College, and Dr. Morse were close friends. When 
Finley entered college his father wrote to President 
Dwight asking him to give some attention to the 
youth, who in spite of his long limbs seemed still a 
little boy to the affectionate father. 

Yale was not so large then as it is now, and the 
president had an opportunity to get acquainted 
with many of the students. He took particular 
pains to be kind to his friend's son. But there 



COLLEGE LIFE 145 

never was a boy who stood less in need of a letter 
of recommendation. 

Finley Morse was a fine looking lad, with his 
father's dignity and his mother's graciousness. 
Strangers were pretty sure to notice and like him. 
His teachers were fond of him because he was 
courteous and studious. He was very popular 
also with his classmates and took an active part in 
college life. 

The long letters which he sent home regularly 
were full of news and enthusiasm. Whenever he 
learned anything that seemed new or wonderful to 
him, when he got acquainted with an interesting 
stranger, when he had taken part in any college 
affair, he thought his father and mother would like 
to hear about it. 

In one letter which is still preserved he told 
about a meteoric stone which had fallen in Con- 
necticut, not far from New Haven. In another, 
he told about the trials of the cooks who prepared 
the food at the college-boys' dining hall: 

' ' We had a new affair here a few days ago. The 
college cooks were arraigned before the tribunal of 
the students, consisting of a committee of four from 
each class in college; I was chosen as one of the 
committee from the sophomore class. We sent for 



146 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

two of the worst cooks and were all Saturday after- 
noon in trying them; found them guilty of several 
charges, such as being insolent to the students, not 
exerting themselves to cook clean for us, in con- 
cealing pies which belonged to the students, having 
suppers at midnight, and inviting all their neigh- 
bors and friends to sup with them at the expense 
of the students, and this not once in a while, but 
almost every night. ... I know not how this 
affair will end, but I expect in the expulsion of 
some, if not all, of the cooks." 

Although Finley Morse was a leader in students' 
enterprises he never neglected his work. He did 
well in all classes, but he was especially interested 
and successful in chemistry and natural philos- 
ophy which were taught by Professor Silliman and 
Professor Day. It was in Professor Day's natural 
philosophy class that Finley Morse first became 
acquainted with the properties of electricity. 

One day after a lecture on the mysteries of elec- 
tricity Professor Day announced that he would try 
a few simple experiments. Pie told all the mem- 
bers of the class to join hands; then one student 
touched the pole of an electric battery and at the 
same instant every boy in the line felt a slight shock, 
which young Morse described as like a slight blow 



COLLEGE LIFE . 147 

across the shoulders. This experiment was made 
to give the students some little notion of the mar- 
velous speed with which electricity travels. Next 
the old laboratory was darkened and a current of 
electricity was passed through a chain and through 
a row of metal blocks placed at short distances from 
one another. The wondering boys saw the flash of 
white light between the links of the chain and 
between the blocks. 

These simple experiments impressed at least 
one member of the class so deeply that he never 
forgot them. Finley Morse said to himself, "Here 
is a force which travels any distance almost in- 
stantaneously, and its presence may be shown at 
any point in its course by a break in the circuit. 
This could surely be put to some use in this great 
world." He wrote to his father giving him an 
account of the experiments; and, as he could not 
afford to go home the following vacation, he spent 
a large part of it making experiments in the labor- 
atory. He had an inquiring mind, and liked to put 
in practice the theories which he learned in the 
class room. 

During Finley's senior year his two brothers were 
also at college. One was in the first year, the 
other in the second. The three young men had 



148 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

great times together. One day they attracted a 
crowd by sending up a big balloon from the college 
campus. This balloon was eighteen feet long. 
The boys had made it themselves by pasting to- 
gether sheets of letter paper. 

Finley was skillful with his fingers and spent 
much of his time drawing faces and heads. The 
walls of his room were covered with crude portraits 
of his friends. 

As years went by he enjoyed this pastime more 
and more, and though he had had no instruction 
in drawing and painting, he gradually gained 
through practice the power of making almost life- 
like resemblances. 

The first group that he painted is poorly drawn 
but it is interesting because of the subject. It 
represents what was probably a typical scene in 
the Morse household on vacation evenings when 
the boys were at home. Dr. Morse is standing 
back of a table with a globe before him. He is 
evidently explaining something to the members of 
his family who are grouped around the table in 
attitudes of close attention. The mother, who 
sits at one end of the table, has stopped sew- 
ing. The largest boy, who must be the young 
artist himself, has one hand on her chair, and is 



150 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

leaning eagerly forward. The two younger boys, 
Richard and Sidney, stand at their father's left. 
The boys look very quaint and grown-up in their 
cutaway coats and high stocks. Dr. Morse was the 
author of a school geography which many of our 
grandfathers and grandmothers used in their school- 
days, and he took pains to interest and instruct 
his boys about far away countries and peoples. 
This picture was considered by the family a very 
fine piece of work. 

Most of Finley Morse's early attempts at painting 
were limited to single portraits. As there were no 
photographers in those days and people liked to 
have their own and their friends' pictures taken, just 
as well as we do now, there was a great demand 
for small portraits or miniatures. Young Morse 
became so skillful in this work that in his senior 
year he was able to pay part of his college expenses 
with the money he earned by painting miniatures. 
He charged only five dollars for painting a min- 
iature on ivory, and his friends kept him busy with 
orders. 

In 1810, when nineteen years of age, Finley 
Morse completed his college course, and the grave 
question of what he should choose for his life work 
had to be settled. 



LIFE IN LONDON 151 

CHAPTER IV 

LIFE IN LONDON 

Finley Morse wished to be an artist. He spent 
the first year after finishing college at his father's 
home in Charlestown, studying and painting. Dr. 
Morse was disappointed over his son's decision, but 
when he found how determined the young man was 
to be a painter he did all he could to encourage and 
help him. He wished him to have every oppor- 
tunity to make a success of the art he loved. He, 
therefore, agreed to furnish the money needed for 
three years of study in London, since there were 
no good art schools in America. 

One of the most eminent American painters, Mr. 
Washington Allston, was then spending a year in 
Boston. Finley Morse made his acquaintance and 
arranged to go to London with him the next year, 
as his student. Accordingly, on the thirteenth of 
July, 181 1, they set sail from New York harbor for 
England. 

It was more than a month after his departure 
from America before young Mr. Morse sat down in 
his lodgings in London to write the news of his safe 
arrival to his father and mother. In this letter he 
said: 



i 5 2 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

"I only wish you had this letter now to relieve 
your minds from anxiety, for while I am writing I 
can imagine mother wishing that she could hear of 
my arrival and thinking of thousands of accidents 
which may have befallen me. I wish that in an 
instant I could communicate the information; but 
three thousand miles are not passed over in an 
instant, and we must wait four long weeks before 
we can hear from each other." 

He little thought then that the time was coming 
when news could be flashed across the ocean in a 
few seconds by means of his own invention. 

Although so far from home Mr. Morse was very 
happy in London. He was so glad to be where he 
could learn to paint that he cared for little else. 
He breakfasted every morning at seven, and began 
drawing at half-past seven. He kept at his work 
from half-past seven in the morning until five in 
the afternoon. Then he dressed for dinner; and 
after dinner he took a little walk or went to visit 
Mr. and Mrs. Allston who lived near by and were 
always glad to see him. He was so fearful of 
wasting a minute that he did not even go around 
to see the famous sights of the great city. His 
father had given him some letters of introduction 
to his English friends. These men would have 
done what they could to make Dr. Morse's son 



LIFE IN LONDON 153 

have a pleasant time while in London if they had 
known he was there, but the young artist felt that 
he had no leisure for society, and did not deliver 
the letters. 

There was, however, one man in London whom 
he was impatient to meet, and a few days after 
their arrival Mr. Allston took him to visit that man. 
This person was no other than Benjamin West, 
the great American artist who had been most 
highly honored in England. The king himself 
praised his pictures and had his portrait painted by 
him. West was president of the Royal Academy. 
Although he had lived many years abroad he loved 
his native country and was always kind to Amer- 
ican artists.. 

When Mr. Allston introduced Finley Morse to 
him he received him kindly for the sake of his 
country and for the sake of Mr. Allston. But when 
the old artist who had listened to the praise of 
kings and princes saw this twenty-year-old Amer- 
ican youth stand before his great pictures with his 
sensitive face aglow with appreciation and admira- 
tion, he said to himself, "The boy loves it." And 
from that moment he felt an affection for Mr. 
Morse for his own sake. He showed him his pictures 
and invited him to come to him at any time for help. 



154 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

Mr. Morse wished to be admitted to the Royal 
Academy. But before this was possible he must 
prove himself qualified by making a fine drawing. 
The first weeks of his stay in London were devoted 
to that drawing. When it was finished he felt 
quite proud of it and showed it to Mr. West. The 
great master was highly pleased. 

" It is a remarkable production, and you undoubt- 
edly have talent, sir, " he said. ' ' It will do you 
credit when it is finished. " 

' ' Finished, " echoed Morse in dismay. " It is 
finished." 

"By no means. See this, and this, and this, " 
said the older man pointing quickly here and there 
to- imperfections which Mr. Morse recognized as 
soon as his attention was called to them. 

He took the drawing home, and as he examined 
it with more critical eyes, discovered many places 
which needed touching up. After another week's 
work he again visited the artist. ' ' I have finished 
it, " he announced triumphantly. 

"Not quite, my friend. Look at this muscle 
and these finger joints." 

The crestfallen artist went to work once more. 
When he next took it to Mr. West he was greeted 
with the monotonous, "Very good — go finish it." 



LIFE IN LONDON 155 

His patience was exhausted and he said in dis- 
couragement, " I have done my best, I can do no 
more." 

' ' Very well, " said Mr. West. ' ' That is all I want. 
It is a splendid drawing. I might have accepted it 
as you presented it at first, but that was not your 
best work. You have learned more by finishing 
this one picture than you would have learned by 
drawing a dozen incomplete ones. Success lies 
not in the number of drawings but in the char- 
acter of one. Finish one picture, and you are a 
painter." 

This lesson made Finley Morse think of the 
advice his father had given him when he was a 
little schoolbov. 

After Mr. Morse had got well started in his work 
he gave a little more attention to the life around 
him. His father, finding that Finley would not 
hunt up his friends, wrote to them himself giving 
them his son's address. They sought him out, and 
thus the young man met many influential people 
whose friendship he prized through life. He visited 
the picture galleries, attended the theater occa- 
sionally, and went about the city a good deal. He 
became acquainted with Charles Leslie, a young 
American, who, like him, had come to London to 



156 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

learn to paint. These two young men formed a 
strong friendship. 

Mr. Allston and Mr. West thought better and 
better of the young man the more they saw of him. 
But they did not neglect to do their duty as his 
teachers and tell him when he made mistakes. 
This was difficult for Mr. Allston, as he had a 
gentle, affectionate disposition, and it hurt him 
to see his young friend unhappy or disappointed. 
But he was too true an artist to tolerate poor 
work. 

One afternoon he entered Morse's studio just as 
the latter was finishing what he believed to be a 
good day's work. The student looked up from his 
work with a bright face. He expected to see a look 
of approval on his teacher's face and to hear an 
enthusiastic "Excellent." Instead, Mr. Allston 
stood looking at the picture for some minutes in 
silence. Then he shook his head and said, "Very 
bad, sir, very bad." Mr. Morse turned red with 
mortification. He felt vexed with his friend, but 
controlled his temper and said nothing. The other 
went on, pointing to the figure on the canvas, "That 
is not flesh; it is mud, sir; it is painted with brick 
dust and clay. " As Morse stood off and looked at 
the work he felt the truth of this criticism so bitterly 



LIFE IN LONDON 157 

that he was ready to dash his palette-knife through 
the canvas. But Mr. Allston quietly took his 
palette, helped himself to some fresh colors, and 
with a few touches, gave warmth and brilliancy to 
the painted flesh. He then stood by and gave 
directions while the young man tried his hand at it. 
When he went away, Finley Morse felt the deepest 
gratitude towards the friend who had made him 
realize how poor his work was, and had shown him 
that it was possible for him to improve it. 

While in London Mr. Morse did two pieces of 
work which were so excellent that they astonished 
many of the older artists. One was a great painting 
of the dying Hercules. This picture was admitted 
to the exhibition of the Royal Academy at Somer- 
set House. The critics spoke highly of it, and it 
was named among the twelve best pictures in an 
exhibition of two thousand. The other piece of 
work that attracted the attention of lovers of art 
was a cast of Hercules, which took the gold medal 
at the Adelphi Society of Arts. 

During the last year of his stay abroad Mr. 
Morse tried to make a little money with his brush, 
but he could not sell any pictures. Frames, canvas, 
and colors were expensive, and the money his father 
had given him was nearly spent. He wrote home: 



158 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

"I am obliged to screw and pinch myself in a 
thousand things in which I used to indulge myself 
at home. I am treated with no dainties, no fruit, 
no nice dinners (except once in an age, when 
invited to a party at an American table), no fine 
tea-parties, as at home. All is changed; I break- 
fast on simple bread-and-butter and two cups of 
coffee; I dine on either beef, mutton, or pork, baked 
with potatoes, warm perhaps twice a week, all the 
rest of the week cold. My drink is water, porter 
being too expensive. At tea, bread-and-butter 
with two cups of tea. This is my daily round. I 
have had no new clothes for nearly a year; my 
best are threadbare, and my shoes are out at the 
toes; my stockings all want to see my mother, and 
my hat is growing hoary with age. This is my 
picture in London. Do you think you would know 
it? " 

In August, 1815, Finley Morse started for Amer- 
ica. He was rich in knowledge, and experience, 
and friends, but he was poor in purse. 



CHAPTER V 

PAINTING 

Samuel F. B. Morse, as he now signed his 
name, opened a studio in Boston. There he found 
many to praise his pictures but none to buy them. 



PAINTING 159 

For a while he spent his idle hours inventing a 
powerful pump. But he was impatient to begin 
painting, and as no work came to him, he deter- 
mined to go in search of some. 

He knew that in the small villages an artist with 
a good reputation might succeed in getting some 
orders for portraits if he were willing to accept 
very low pay for his services. His father was well 
known throughout New England as a preacher and 
writer, and with the help of his friends the artist 
easily found employment for his pencil among the 
country people. 

He painted portraits in one town until he had no 
more orders, then he went on to another. He 
asked only ten or fifteen dollars apiece for his por- 
traits. But living was cheap, and he worked so 
rapidly that he was able to save money, notwith- 
standing these low rates. He had supposed that 
this would be very distasteful work. But he took 
great satisfaction in earning his own money, and 
had many pleasant experiences. Indeed, it was 
on one of these portrait-painting tours that Mr. 
Morse met the beautiful Lucretia Walker, whom 
he afterwards married. 

Some rich southern friends urged Mr. Morse to 
try his fortunes in Charleston, South Carolina. 



160 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

His uncle, Dr. Finley, who lived there, invited 
him to stay at his home. His first experience 
there was as discouraging as his winter in Boston 
had been. People were kind and friendly. They 
admired his pictures, but no one ordered any. He 
felt humiliated and made up his mind to go north 
again. Before going, he asked his uncle to let him 
paint his portrait as a return for all his kindness. 
This portrait was such a splendid likeness that 
nearly every one who saw it thought he would like 
to have Mr. Morse paint his picture also. Before 
long he had a list of one hundred and fifty people 
who had ordered portraits at sixty dollars apiece. 

Mr. Morse's reputation as a portrait painter was 
soon made in Charleston. The citizens honored 
him with a commission to paint a portrait of Presi- 
dent Monroe. Mr. Morse had a pleasant stay in 
Washington and painted a strong portrait. The 
president and his family liked it so much that they 
requested Mr. Morse to make a copy of it for them. 

By dint of hard work Samuel F. B. Morse had 
succeeded as a portrait painter, but he was not 
content to spend his life painting portraits. He 
wished to stop painting merely for money. He 
was ambitious to paint beautiful landscapes and 
great historic pictures. But there was no oppor- 



PAINTING 161 

tunity to do such work in Charleston, and so he 
resolved to return to the North. 

Before leaving the South, Mr. Morse, with the 
help of some of the leading men of Charleston, 
established an Academy of Fine Arts. 

In 1820, Dr. Morse gave up his church in Charles- 
town, Massachusetts, and moved to New Haven. 
His son visited him there, and renewed his acquaint- 
ance with some of the college professors. Pro- 
fessor Silliman lived near to Dr. Morse, and Mr. 
S. F. B. Morse became deeply interested in the 
professor's electrical experiments. 

In the fall he left his wife at his father's home and 
went to Washington to paint one of the great pic- 
tures he had planned. The subject of this picture 
was the House of Representatives. He worked on 
it fourteen hours a day and had high hopes for it. 
But although it was considered a splendid picture, 
he did not make any money from it. He was there- 
fore obliged to resort to portrait painting again. 

He tried at Albany, the capital of New York, but 
got no orders there. Then he determined to seek 
his fortune in the great, rich city of New York. 
He knew he would have a hard struggle; but it 
proved even harder than he had expected. He 
had no money; he could get no work; his rent and 



162 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

board had to be paid. The only thing to do was 
to fall back once more on the portrait-painting 
tours. 

After a profitable trip through several New Eng- 
land states, and a pleasant visit with his family, he 
went back to New York with new courage. This 
time he succeeded better. He had a few pupils 
and sold some pictures. In the middle of the year 
an unlooked-for piece of prosperity befell him. 
General Lafayette was visiting America. New 
York city wanted a life-sized portrait of the hero. 
Mr. Morse was chosen to paint it. 

Mr. Morse wrote to his wife at once to tell her 
about his good fortune. He said: "The terms 
are not definitely settled. I shall have at least 
seven hundred dollars, probably one thousand." 
This seemed quite a fortune to the poor artist. 
He regretted that instead of going to New Haven 
for a visit with his wife, he Would be obliged by his 
work to go to Washington. But he wrote home 
cheerfully: "Recollect the old lady's saying, often 
quoted by mother, ' There is never a convenience 
but there ain't one' ... I look forward to the 
spring of the year with delightful prospects of see- 
ing my dear family permanently settled with me in 
our own hired house in New York." 



PAINTING 163 

A month later, on the eighth of February, he 
wrote Mrs. Morse a glowing account of his arrival 
at Washington and his meeting with General 
Lafayette. On that same day his father wrote 
to him from New Haven a letter full of sorrow tell- 
ing him that, after a slight illness of two or three 
days, his fair young wife had died suddenly of heart 
trouble, and he would never see his beloved 
Lucretia again. 

News traveled slowly by stage coach in those 
days, and this letter did not reach Mr. Morse until 
after his wife's funeral. He was almost crushed 
with grief. His return to New Haven could do no 
good; but he could not paint, and he wished to be 
among those who had known and loved his wife. 
He arranged to meet General Lafayette later 
in New York, and started immediately for New 
Haven. After a sorrowful visit there he returned 
to New York where he finished the portrait of 
Lafayette, which he afterwards described as fol- 
lows: " It is a full-length, standing figure, the size 
of life. He is represented as standing at the top 
of a flight of steps, which he has just ascended 
upon a terrace, the figure coming against a glowing 
sunset sky, indicative of the glory of his own even- 
ing of life. Upon his right, if I remember, are 



1 64 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

three pedestals, one of which is vacant, as if wait- 
ing for his bust, while the two others are sur- 
mounted by the busts of Washington and Franklin 
— the two associated eminent historical characters 
of his own time. In a vase on the other side, is a 
flower — the heliotrope — with its face toward the 
sun, in allusion to the characteristic, stern, uncom- 
promising consistency of Lafayette — a trait of 
character which I then considered and still consider 
the great prominent trait of that distinguished man. " 
The artist's struggle seemed over. Now that he 
cared less to succeed he received more orders than 
he could fill. Mr. Morse took an active part in 
the art life of New York. He organized the 
National Academy of the Arts of Design, and was 
made its president. 



CHAPTER VI 



ABROAD AGAIN 

When Dr. Morse died in 1826 he had the satis- 
faction of knowing that the son, for whom he had 
made many sacrifices, was regarded as one of the 
leading artists of America. 

Mr. Morse had done much to arouse an interest 
in painting in America. He had lectured and writ- 



ABROAD AGAIN 165 

ten on the subject; he had organized the Academy 
of Fine Arts in South Carolina, and the National 
Academy in New York; and above all he had used 
his brush constantly. 

He stood at the head of his profession in New 
York. Rich men who had picture galleries began 
to think that their collections were incomplete 
unless they included one or two of S. F. B. 
Morse's paintings. 

The artist realized that his countrymen had the 
greatest confidence in his knowledge and ability. 
He wished to deserve their good opinion and 
thought that it was his duty to go to Italy, the 
land of artists, to learn what he could from the 
pictures of the old masters. 

When it was known that Mr. Morse was going 
to Italy to study and paint, his friends and 
admirers came to him asking him to paint some- 
thing for them while he was away. One wanted 
him to copy some heads from Titian for not more 
than one hundred dollars; another was willing to 
give five hundred dollars for a little copy of 
"Miracolo del Servo;" others gave him money, 
leaving him free to paint what he chose for them. 
When he was ready to sail he had almost three 
thousand dollars' worth of orders. 



1 66 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

Mr. Morse staid abroad three years. These 
were years full of pleasant experiences and suc- 
cessful work. He revisited London and saw his 
old friend, Leslie, now an eminent artist. Together 
they talked about their days of study under All- 
ston and West, and laughed over their early strug- 
gles and ambitions. 

Leslie introduced his American friend to the 
most prominent English artists. They were all 
very cordial to the distinguished representative of 
American artists. 

While in Paris Mr. Morse ventured to call on 
General Lafayette. The general remembered 
instantly the man who had painted his portrait, 
and made him most welcome. "I saw in the 
American papers that you had sailed for Europe, 
and I expected you to make me a visit, " he said. 
Although then an old man he had not lost his 
interest in America and was glad to talk about our 
country's present, past, and future with one of her 
most patriotic citizens. The two men became good 
friends. They walked and rode together often, 
and General Lafayette invited Mr. Morse to visit 
him at his country home. 

Mr. Morse came to know other distinguished 
men during his stay in Europe. He and the 



ABROAD AGAIN 167 

Danish sculptor, Thorwaldsen, became such good 
friends that he asked Thorwaldsen to sit for his 
portrait. He sent this portrait to one of the men 
who had given him one hundred dollars for painting 
any picture he might think suitable. This same 
picture was afterward sold for four hundred dollars. 
The buyer, hearing that Mr. Morse had expressed 
a wish to have this portrait that he might present 
it to the King of Denmark, generously returned it 
to him. 

The American novelist, Cooper, and the Amer- 
ican sculptor, Greenough, became friends and 
associates of Mr. Morse during his travels on the 
continent. 

Mr. Morse spent a large part of his time in art 
galleries, studying the pictures of the great artists 
who had lived before him. Sometimes he brought 
his easel and canvas to the gallery and copied their 
work as closely as he could. In this way he learned 
a great deal. 

He loved to be in the Louvre, the great art 
gallery of Paris. He wished every American artist 
might visit it. Then the idea of painting a picture 
of it occurred to him. It was a great undertaking 
and he did not wish to stay away from his own 
country much longer. But he was so eager to 



168 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

paint this picture that he worked on it from morning 
till night. A great plague, the cholera, broke out 
in Paris in the spring of 1832. Hundreds died 
daily, and almost everyone who could get away 
fled from the city in terror. Morse, however, staid 
quietly there, painting every day as usual, and 
when the date for his return to America came he 
had his picture so nearly finished that he could 
complete it in New York. 



CHAPTER VII 



AN IMPORTANT VOYAGE 

When Mr. Morse started for America on the 
first of October, 1832, he said to himself: "Few 
American artists have had such splendid opportu- 
nities as I have. I must go home and give my 
countrymen the benefit of what I have learned. I 
am forty-one years old now. About half of my 
life, twenty years, I have devoted to art. I have 
painted many good pictures and gained the respect 
of artists in my own country and in Europe. I am 
able to make a comfortable living for my children 
with my brush. But that is not enough. I must 
do some grand work that will be remembered when 



AN IMPORTANT VOYAGE 169 

I am dead — something which will show older coun- 
tries that though America is young she is a great 
country and can produce great men." 

The good ship, which was bearing him nearer 
and nearer to that country which he loved even 
better than fair Italy, was called the "Sully." 
There was a pleasant company of passengers 
on board. When they met at the dinner table, 
hungry from the keen sea air, there were lively talks 
on all sorts of subjects. Mr. Morse often took part 
in these conversations. 

One day some one told about some experiments 
with electricity which he had read of. Every one 
was interested. One man remarked, ' ' I have 
heard it stated that a current of electricity will 
pass along a very long wire almost instantane- 
ously. " 

"That is true," said Dr. Jackson of Boston. 
' ' It passes over the longest wires that are used in 
experiments in less than a second of time. Dr. 
Franklin used wires several miles long and he could 
detect no difference in time between the touch at 
one end of the wire and the resulting spark at the 
other." 

" If that is true and the power can be used in 
any part of an electric circuit," Mr. Morse sug- 



170 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

gested; " I should think we might send news 
instantaneously by electricity." 

' ' It has already been used for giving signals, I 
believe," one of the company remarked. 

"But I mean more than that," explained Mr. 
Morse; "why could we not write instantaneous 
letters from New York to Charleston with it? " 

All laughed at this odd idea. The ladies joined 
in the conversation and said that Mr. Morse should 
let them know when his magic letter-writing 
machine was ready for use. The Southern people 
began to complain of the inconvenience of corre- 
sponding with friends in the North. Letters from 
the South were a month reaching New York by 
coach, so that one's dearest friend might die and 
be buried before one knew anything about it. 

Mr. Morse knew the truth of this too well. He 
stopped talking with the others, and after dinner 
went to a lonely part of the deck where he sat 
quite still, with his notebook in hand, all the after- 
noon. Other passengers smiled and said, ' ' Do 
not disturb the artist. He is trying to decide just 
what shades he can mix together to get the peculiar 
blue of the sea for some painting." 

But he was not thinking of the color of the sea. 
His mind was busy with the idea that had flashed 



AN IMPORTANT VOYAGE 171 

into it at the dinner table. He remembered the 
old experiments in the laboratory at Yale; he 
remembered the conversations he had had with 
Professor Day and Professor Silliman in later 
years; he recalled the lectures on electricity which 
he had heard Professor Dana give at Columbia 
College. All that he had ever seen, or heard, or 
thought about electricity came into his mind and 
made him think that his notion of writing letters at 
a distance by means of electricity was no wild 
dream, but a sensible idea. ' ' It only needs the 
right man to carry it out. Perhaps I am that 
man," he told himself. He could not sleep that 
night, his head was so full of his new idea. He 
rose early in the morning and was again busy with 
his notebook and pencil. It was not long before 
he took some of his fellow passengers into his con- 
fidence and told them his plan. 

"First," he began "it has been proved that 
electricity travels with almost incalculable speed — 
with the speed of lightning, in short. We can 
have as much electricity as we desire with the help 
of a good battery; and the direction in which it 
goes can be controlled by us. We can send it 
where we wish by providing a copper wire to con- 
duct it. Second, electricity has great force." 



172 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

' ' I don't doubt that, " interposed one of the 
listeners. ' ' I saw lightning strike a tree once. 
But how are you going to control that force and 
make it do what you wish it to ? " 

" There is a very simple and well-known way of 
getting a powerful up-and-down motion by means 
of electricity," Mr. Morse answered. "Bend a 
bar of soft iron into the shape of a horseshoe and 
wind a coil of wire around it. When that wire is 
charged with electricity the iron becomes magnetic. 
Magnets strong enough to lift great blocks of iron 
are made in this way. As soon as the electrical 
current is broken the horseshoe loses its power and 
the block of iron falls. By simply supplying and 
breaking the current repeatedly with the help of 
such a magnet" an up-and-down motion can be 
obtained." 

' ' I have heard all about the horseshoe electro- 
magnet, " interrupted one man impatiently. "But 
I should think it would make a rather clumsy pen. 
How are you going to use your force to write? " 

" I have thought it all out and made drawings of 
it, " replied Mr. Morse. ' ' At one end of the wire 
will be the battery and the man who sends the 
message. At the other end will be the pencil for 
him to write with and the paper for. him to write 



AN IMPORTANT VOYAGE 173 

upon. A long ribbon of paper will be attached 
to two cylinders turned regularly towards each 
other by clock work, so that the paper will be 
wound off of one cylinder upon the other. Above 
this strip of paper will be a bar swinging freely on 
a central pivot like a balance. This bar will be 
made to go up or down like a teeter-board, at the 
will of the man sending the message. There will 
be a sharp pencil under the end of the bar over the 
paper. When that end of the bar goes down and 
right up again the pencil will leave a dot on the 
paper. If it stays down while the turning cylinders 
carry the paper along under it, it will make a line. 
If it stays up while the paper is turned under it, a 
space will be left. By combining these dots, 
dashes, and spaces in various ways a telegraphic 
alphabet can be made. " 

"Can you show me how the 'teeter-board' 
could be made to go up and down? " inquired the 
man who had asked the first question. 

" Why yes. There we shall use the magnet," 
said the inventor. ' ' There will be a small iron plate 
at each end of the bar. Over the end which carries 
the pencil there will be a weak permanent magnet, 
strong enough to draw up that end of the bar when 
there is nothing pulling against it. At the other 



/ 




% 


; 






-3 








I 












5 








— 


' — 


















. 
























































































































6 






/ 


r 








3 





















































. 






. 


. 


. 






c 


. 


c 


. 




























• 






























































• 


• 




. 












• 


















. 




• 






















• 




- 




• 












■ 




= 


- 














• 


























- 




■ 




- 


■ 


• 




. 


























. 


• 




• 


- 


. 
































































































1 


1 




• 


• 




































1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


1 






• 


1 


1 


. 


. 


1 


1 


1 
























1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


1 


. 




. 


- 


• 
























• 


1 


/ 


1 




• 




















































1 


1 


1 


1 









































26.203 .456 .1890.11072.23605 





Weak Permanent Magnet. 



Electro-magnet Strong. 
THE DRAWING MADE BY MR. MORSE ON THE "SULLY* 



AN IMPORTANT VOYAGE 175 

end there will be a strong electro-magnet. When 
the man writing the letter wishes to make a dot he 
will send a spark of electricity over the wire and it 
will magnetize the iron so that the power of the 
weak permanent magnet will be overcome and the 
end of the bar under the electro-magnet will go up, 
forcing the pencil end of the bar down upon the 
paper. If he wishes to make a dash he can keep 
on the current and the pencil will stay down on 
the moving paper, but the moment he breaks the 
current, up the pencil end will go towards the weak 
permanent magnet and leave a vacant space on the 
paper." 

All agreed that this was a very fine theory, but 
they thought it could never be put into practice. 

Before the ship entered New York harbor Mr. 
Morse had filled his notebook with drawings of 
apparatus for the telegraph. He had also made an 
alphabet. He had great faith in his plan. One 
day he said to the captain of the vessel, "Well, 
Captain, should you hear of the telegraph, one of 
these days, as the wonder of the world, remember 
the discovery was made on board the good ship 
Sully." The captain was amused. He regarded 
the whole matter as merely a visionary dream 
which even Mr. Morse would soon forget. 



176 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

CHAPTER VIII 

YEARS OF STRUGGLE 

When Mr. Morse landed at New York, his two 
brothers, Richard and Sidney, were at the wharf 
to meet him. On the way to Richard's house, Mr. 
Morse told his brothers about his great idea. They 
were surprised. His last letter had been full of 
his wishes to paint a great picture. Now he was 
thinking more about his invention than about pic- 
tures. They agreed that it would be a wonderful 
discovery; and listened to his plan with keen 
interest. His brother Richard invited him to live 
at his new home, saying a room had been built 
and furnished especially for him. 

During his first days in New York the artist had 
many visitors. Friends wished to hear about his trip 
and to see his pictures. It would have been natural 
under the circumstances for him to cease thinking 
about electricity and devote his time to his pro- 
fession. He was out of money, and many people 
were ready to buy pictures if he would only paint 
them. Years of ease, enjoyment, and success lay 
before .him if he chose to give his life to art. 
Privations, hardships, doubt, must be his portion 
if he undertook to work out his great invention. 



YEARS OF STRUGGLE 177 

Yet he could not dismiss the telegraph from his 
mind. The more he thought of it the more firmly 
he believed that God had made electricity for man's 
use. And he thought he could do no work in the 
world more valuable than to make this marvelous 
force serve man in the telegraph. 

He wished to set up the machinery necessary to 
test his theory. The proper apparatus could not 
be bought. He had no money to employ crafts- 
men to make it for him. He therefore undertook 
to make it himself. 

His first workshop was his brother's parlor where 
he tried to make an instrument for opening and 
closing the electric current to regulate the dots, 
dashes, and spaces. Frequent small accidents and 
the many interruptions which occurred there, made 
the inventor think it would be wise to move else- 
where. His brothers, who owned and edited a 
paper, were putting up a business building down 
town. When this was done Samuel F, B. Morse 
took a room in the top story of it. There he lived 
and worked. There his cot-bed stood. There his 
neglected easel, and paints, and canvas, and 
models were stored. There his workbench and 
lathe occupied the place of honor by the window. 

He did not go to see his friends. Few of them 




MR. MORSE MAKING HIS OWN INSTRUMENTS 



YEARS OF STRUGGLE 179 

felt free to seek him out in his attic chamber. His 
children were with distant relatives. He lived 
alone. In the evening when it was so dark that 
he could not be seen he left his room and went to 
some grocery, where he bought bread, potatoes, 
eggs, and such food as he could cook for himself. 
His clothing was poor and shabby. Could he have 
gone to work at once with his experiments it would 
not have been so trying. But he had to spend 
days and weeks and months contriving tools and 
implements. 

When the committee appointed to choose artists 
to paint the pictures for the rotunda of the capitol 
at Washington overlooked Morse and assigned the 
work to foreign artists, the New York artists were 
indignant that their leader should be so slighted. 
They remembered how ready he was to use his in- 
fluence for their advancement, and how free to share 
his knowledge with those who needed instruction. 

They wished to show their appreciation of all 
that he had done. They went to work quietly and 
secured subscriptions to the amount of three thou- 
sand dollars from artists and from others interested 
in art. This they sent to Mr. Morse with the 
request that he should paint a great historical pic- 
ture. They said that when it was finished he 



180 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

might do with it as he pleased. Their only wish 
was to make it worth while for him to paint such 
a picture, which they were sure would do credit to 
America and to all American artists. 

When Mr. Morse learned what his fellow artists 
had done he was deeply moved by their kind- 
ness. He exclaimed, ' ' I have never heard or read 
or known of such an act of professional gener- 
osity." He resolved to paint a picture that would 
prove to them that their confidence in him was not 
misplaced. But he found that he could not put 
his heart into the work. He was worried about 
his invention. It seemed much more important 
than painting pictures. He finally returned the 
money with the request that his friends would free 
him from the engagement. 

In 1835 Mr. Morse was made Professor of the 
Literature of the Arts of Design in the New York 
City University. He moved from his attic quarters 
to his rooms in the new university. There he fitted 
up a very rude electric telegraph. It was made in 
such a rough fashion that he was almost ashamed to 
show it to his friends. But, in spite of its crude- 
ness, it actually worked. In that room at the uni- 
versity he sent the first telegraphic messages ever 
carried by electricity. 



ENCOURAGEMENT 181 

Every day he had to leave his absorbing experi- 
ments to spend hours teaching young art students 
to paint. He was glad to have this means of sup- 
porting himself, but it interfered greatly with his 
work. 

CHAPTER IX 

ENCOURAGEMENT 

In 1837 Mr. Morse asked some friends to come 
into his room to look at his telegraph and see it at 
work. One of his guests was a student, Mr. Alfred 
Vail. This young man was deeply impressed with 
what he saw. He soon afterwards called on Mr. 
Morse alone to ask some questions. 

"Your wire here is not long. What reason 
have you to believe that your telegraph will act 
successfully at great distances ? " he inquired. 

* * If I can succeed in working a magnet ten 
miles away, I can go round the globe," answered 
the confident inventor. "I have contrived a way 
of renewing the current with a relay. It would 
not be worth while to have these relays closer than 
ten miles from each other. But if I can get a 
force strong enough to lift a hair at a distance of 
ten miles I can send a current around the earth. 



182 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

Experiments have been made with wires several 
miles long, and I have faith that the current 
can be sent ten miles or further without a 
relay." 

Mr. Vail then asked Mr. Morse why he did not 
push his experiment more rapidly, and when he 
learned that the delay was caused by lack of money, 
he offered to supply the funds needed if Mr. Morse 
would take him into partnership. Mr. Morse was 
willing to do so; and the terms of the partnership 
were soon agreed upon. Mr. Vail's father and 
brother owned large iron and brass works at 
Speedwell, New Jersey. His knowledge of iron and 
brass work was of great service to Mr. Morse in 
perfecting the mechanical part of his invention. 

The partnership was formed in September, 1837. 
Later in the month Mr. Morse applied to the 
United States government for a patent on The 
American Electro- Magnetic Telegraph. 

Mr. Vail promptly furnished the length of wire 
needed to make the experiments on the result of 
which depended the success of the invention. 
With the help of Professor Gale, of the university, 
Mr. Morse made those experiments and found 
that he could manage the magnet through more 
than twenty miles of wire without a relay. 



ENCOURAGEMENT 183 

This was as far as he could hope to carry his 
investigation without help from the government. 
To construct and operate a telegraph line on a 
large scale would be too costly a venture for an 
individual. 

Just at this time the government was making 
inquiries concerning the various telegraphs which 
were being invented. Mr. Morse sent the United 
States Treasurer an account of his recording tele- 
graph and was asked to exhibit his instrument at 
Washington. 

Before taking his telegraph to Washington, Pro- 
fessor Morse invited his New York friends to see 
his invention in operation. Among his guests on 
this occasion were. many who had regretted that 
New York's greatest artist had "lost his head 
over a wild scheme." They were amazed to s~~ 
the results of what they had considered his ' 'wastt 
years. " 

The guests whispered messages to him. The 
instrument went "click! click!" and dots an 
dashes began to appear on the strip of paper 1 
the other end of the wire. Then some man wh 
understood the telegraph alphabet read the mes- 
sages to their surprised senders. The New York 
newspapers gave full accounts of the affair, and 



1 84 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

people began to think that after all there might be 
something in the telegraph. 

The most distinguished body of scientific men 
in America, known as the "Franklin Institute, " 
invited Mr. Morse to visit Philadelphia and 
exhibit his telegraph before the Committee of 
Science and Arts. They were so favorably im- 
pressed with the invention that they recommended 
that the government give the inventor means to 
test it on an extensive scale. 

Mr. Morse then went to Washington, where 
the president, the cabinet officers, and many prom- 
inent men saw the telegraph at work, and were 
filled with astonishment and satisfaction. 

Mr. F. O. J. Smith, an influential man, desired 
to have a share in the invention. Mr. Morse 
thought favorably of his proposal. A company of 
four partners was formed. In this company Mr. 
Morse had nine shares; Mr. Smith, four; Mr. Vail, 
two; Professor Gale, one. Affairs looked encour- 
aging; it seemed probable that Congress would 
make an appropriation of thirty thousand dollars 
to give the telegraph a test on a large scale. 

Mr. Morse and Mr. Smith went abroad to 
see about getting patents in foreign countries. In 
England the attorney general refused to consider 



WAITING AT LAST REWARDED 185 

Mr. Morse's application for a patent, because a 
description of his telegraph had already been pub- 
lished and that, he said, rendered the idea public 
property. 

In France, Mr. Morse was shown the greatest 
kindness. Such eminent scientists as M. Arago 
and Baron Humboldt were eager to know the 
American inventor and to see his telegraph. 

The fact that space had been so conquered by 
man that, with a little machinery, messages might 
be sent to all parts of the world in an instant, 
seemed too wonderful to be believed. But although 
everybody wondered and admired, France was the 
only European country to grant the inventor a 
patent. 



CHAPTER X 



WAITING AT LAST REWARDED 

In the year 1840 the United States government 
issued to Mr. Morse the patent which he had / 
applied for in 1837, before going to Europe. 

Mr. Morse returned to America full of enthusi- 
asm. Success seemed close at hand. He found, how- 
ever, that Congress was interested in other matters. 



.i86 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

The general opinion seemed to be that it would be 
extravagant to put so much money into an experi- 
ment whose outcome was exceedingly doubtful. 
Soon, even Mr. Morse's partners lost heart and 
gave their attention to affairs which would bring 
them some immediate return. 

Poverty made it impossible for the inventor to 
push the. project further without help. He was so 
poor that he sometimes had to go hungry. He 
took up his work at the university once more and 
taught young men to paint. 

There was another way in which he was able 
to earn a little money. While in France he had 
met Monsieur Daguerre, who had discovered a 
way to "paint with sunbeams," or take pictures, 
which were called in his honor daguerreotypes. 
Morse learned his methods and was the first to 
introduce the new art of picture making into 
America. He gave instruction to many young 
men who wanted to learn Daguerre's process so 
that they might go around the country making 
daguerreotypes. 

While obliged to spend some time on tasks by 
which he could earn a living, Professor Morse never 
ceased to hope and to work in the interest of the 
telegraph. He employed an agent at Washing- 



WAITING AT LAST REWARDED 187 

ton, but finding that he accomplished nothing, 
determined to go there himself and make one 
more effort to secure the aid of Congress. His 
partner, Mr. Vail, who had always been so hope- 
ful and ready to help, now said that he could do 
nothing more, and Mr. Morse was left to do what 
he could alone. 

At length a bill recommending the appropriation 
of thirty thousand dollars for testing the Morse 
telegraph was brought before the House of Repre- 
sentatives. Mr. Morse was very much afraid the 
bill would not pass the House. He sat in the 
gallery while it was being discussed. Some of the 
members ridiculed the bill and made jokes about 
the telegraph. But when the votes were counted 
there was a majority of six in favor of the appro- 
priation. 

After passing the House of Representatives the 
bill had to go to the Senate. Mr. Morse knew that 
many of the senators were in favor of his telegraph 
and he felt confident of victory there. But as the 
days went by a new doubt troubled him. It was 
almost time for the Senate to close, and there was 
so much business to be considered that there was 
little prospect of his bill being acted upon. The 
last day came. There were one hundred and forty 



188 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

bills to be disposed of. All day Mr. Morse sat 
anxiously in the gallery. His friends warned him 
to give up hope. Late at night he went to his hotel 
with a sad heart. 

He had given ten years of his life to perfect the 
most wonderful invention of the age. He had 
succeeded, but his work had been treated with 
indifference. He felt almost hopeless. But he was 
too great a man to yield wholly to disappointment. 
He made all preparations to leave Washington 
early the next day. Then he went to bed and slept 
soundly. 

The next morning Mr. Morse was a little late for 
breakfast. As he entered the dining room a serv- 
ant told him that a young lady was waiting in the 
parlor to see him. 

He was surprised to find that his morning visitor 
was Miss Annie G. Ellsworth, the daughter of his 
particular friend, H. L. Ellsworth, Commissioner 
of Patents. 

Going forward to take the young lady's out- 
stretched hand, he exclaimed, ' ' What brings you 
to see me so early in the day, my young friend?" 

"I have come to congratulate you," she 
answered, her face bright with smiles. 

"Indeed! For what? " he asked perplexed. 



WAITING AT LAST REWARDED 189 

"On the passage of your bill." 

"No, you are mistaken. The bill was not 
passed. I was in the senate chamber till after the 
lamps were lighted and my friends assured me 
there was no chance for me, " he returned, shaking 
his head soberly. 

"No, no!" she insisted earnestly. "It is you 
who are mistaken. Father was there at the 
adjournment at midnight and even saw the presi- 
dent sign his name to your bill. This morning he 
told me I might come to congratulate you." 

At first Mr. Morse was so surprised and over- 
come by this piece of good news that he could 
scarcely believe it. When he realized that it was 
true, he said: "You were the first to bring me 
this welcome news, Annie, and I promise you that 
you shall send the first message over my telegraph 
when it is done." 

' ' I shall hold you to your promise, " the young 
girl answered happily. 

Disappointment was turned to joy. He hastened 
to write the good news to his partners and friends. 
He wished that his telegraph was ready for use 
so that he might instantly scatter the glad tidings 
to the world. He did not leave Washington that 
day. 



190 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

CHAPTER XI 

THE TELEGRAPH 

The appropriation made by Congress was large 
enough to build a telegraph line forty miles long. 
It was decided that the first line should extend 
from Baltimore to Washington. The work was 
begun without delay. Mr. Morse took charge of it 
himself. 

At first the wires were put in tubes and buried 
in the ground. But that did not work well. Mr. 
Morse then tried putting them on poles in the 
open air. This proved a much cheaper, quicker, 
and more satisfactory method. 

On the first of May the National Whig Con- 
vention was held in Baltimore, to nominate can- 
didates for the presidency and the vice-presidency. 
Twenty-two miles of wire were up. Mr. Morse 
thought it would be interesting to announce con- 
vention news in Washington by means of tele- 
graph. 

There was a railroad between Baltimore and 
Washington which ran near the telegraph line. 
Mr. Morse accordingly arranged to have Mr. Vail 
get the latest news from the train and telegraph it 
to him in Washington. This was done and the pas- 



THE TELEGRAPH 191 

sengers on the first train to Washington after the 
nomination of Henry Clay found that the news had 
reached the capital long before them. 

On the twenty-fourth of May, 1844, the tele- 
graph line was finished. Mr. Morse was at Wash- 
ington; Mr. Vail, at Baltimore. Everything was 
in good working order. It was announced that the 
first message was to be sent. Crowds gathered 
around the office. 

Mr. Morse remembered his promise to Miss Ells- 
worth. He sent to ask her what the first message 
should be. She wrote the noble line from the 
Bible, "What hath God wrought!" Mr, Morse was 
greatly pleased with the selection. He said after- 
ward, ' ' It baptised the American telegraph with 
the name of its Author." And all agreed that the 
work seemed greater than man's work. 

Mr. Morse sent the message to Mr. Vail. It 
looked like this: . — • — — — 

(w) (h) (a) (t) (h) (a) (t) 



(h) (g) (o) (d) (w) (r) (o) (u) (g) 

(h) (t) 

When Mr. Vail received the message he sent it 
back to Mr. Morse to let him know that it had 
reached him all right. It had flown from Wash- 



192 



SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 



ington to Baltimore and back, eighty miles, in a 
moment. 

After the first message, Mr. Morse and Mr. Vail 
carried on a lively conversation for the entertain- 



ALPHABET. 


NUMERALS. 




A 


— 


1 


— 




B 


— _ _ - 








C 


_ _ 


2 


— 




D 


— _ _ 








E 


- 


3 


... _ — 




F 


. — _ 








G J 


— — _ 


4 


- - . _ 




H 


_ _ _ . 








IY 


- - 


5. 


- — — — 




K 


— - — 








L 

M 




6 






. 






N 


— - 


7 


— — _ « 







- 








P 




8 


— _ _ 




Q 


. . — . 








E 


_ _ 


9 


. — _ . — 




SZ 


_ 








T 
U 


















Y 


. _ _ — 






W 


_ — — 






X 


. — . . 






& 


- - _ 







CHARACTERS USED IN SENDING MESSAGES 



THE TELEGRAPH 193 

ment of those looking on: " Stop a few minutes," 
said Mr. Morse. "Yes," Mr. Vail answered. 
"Have you any news?" "No." "Mr. Seaton's 
respects to you. " ' ' My respects to him. " ' ' What 
is your time?" "Nine o'clock, twenty-eight min- 
utes." "What weather have you?" "Cloudy." 
' ' Separate your words more. " ' ' Oil your clock- 
work. " ' ' Buchanan stock said to be rising. " "I 
have a great crowd at my window. " ' ' Van Buren 
cannon in front, with a fox-tail on it." 

A few days later the Democratic National Con- 
vention was held in Baltimore. As soon as the 
candidates were nominated the announcement was 
sent to Washington by wire. The man named 
for the vice-presidency was at Washington and 
received immediate notice of his nomination. 
He replied by telegraph that he declined. When 
his message was read in the convention a few min- 
utes after the nomination was made, it caused a sen- 
sation. To some this rapid communication seemed 
almost like witchcraft. Many refused to believe 
that the message really came from the nominee. 
A committee was sent to Washington to see about 
it. Of course the committee found that the tele- 
graph had told the truth. 

During the first year the telegraph was put in the 



i 9 4 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

hands of the post office department of the govern- 
ment. A tax of one cent was charged for every four 
characters. The income at the Washington office 
for the first nine days was as follows: during the 
first four days only one cent; on the fifth day, 
twelve and a half cents; the sixth day was Sunday 
and the office was closed; on the seventh day, sixty 
cents; on the eighth day, one dollar and thirty-two 
cents; on the ninth day, one dollar and four cents. 

Mr. Morse was amused to see the astonishment 
his telegraph aroused. His own faith in its success 
had been so strong that he was surprised to find 
that others had doubted. The newspapers were 
full of praises for the inventor and his invention; 
the mail brought him letters of congratulation from 
all over the world; he was invited to dine with the 
highest officers of his own country and with ambas- 
sadors from foreign lands. 

Mr. Morse offered to sell his telegraph to 
the government for one hundred thousand dollars. 
The government declined his offer. The reason 
given was that the expense of operating it would 
be greater than the revenue that could be derived 
from it. 

A private company was formed and other tele- 
graph lines were soon built. In 1846 the line 



THE TELEGRAPH 195 

between New York and Washington was finished 
and "the Hudson and Potomac were connected by 
links of lightning. " 

Mr. Morse went to Europe again in 1845 in 
the hope of securing patents. He was received 
everywhere with honor, but he failed in the purpose 
of his voyage. 

In 1846 Mr. Morse's patent was reissued in the 
United States. He was troubled, however, as 
most inventors are, by men who claimed his idea 
as their own, and pretended to be the original 
inventors of the telegraph. He was compelled to 
protect his rights repeatedly by going to court. 
The question was finally carried before the Supreme 
Court of the United States. After a thorough 
investigation the judges all agreed that Mr. Morse 
was the original and only inventor of the Electro- 
Magnetic Recording Telegraph. 

For some time short telegraph lines were built 
and operated by separate companies. In 185 1 
the Western Union Telegraph Company was 
formed to build a line from Buffalo to St. Louis. 
This company gradually bought and built other 
lines until it controlled all the important telegraph 
lines from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from 
Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. 



196 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

CHAPTER XII 

THE CABLE 

Mr. Morse was often heard to say, " If I can 
nake the telegraph work ten miles, I can make it 
go around the globe. " He had shown that it could 
be made to work across continents. But there was 
some question as to whether it could be made to 
cross seas. 

In 1842, on one moonlight night in October, Mr. 
Morse made an attempt in a small way to 
prove that it could be done. As water is a good 
conductor of electricity it could conduct the elec- 
tricity away from the wire. The wire, therefore, 
had to be carefully covered so that the water 
could not reach it. Mr. Morse insulated the wire 
for his first experiment by wrapping it in hempen 
strands which were afterwards covered with pitch, 
tar, and rubber. This cable, two miles in length, 
was wound on a reel and placed in a rowboat. 
When night had fallen and all was quiet in New 
York harbor, a small boat put out from the shore. 
There were two men in the boat. One rowed 
while the other sat in the stern and unwound yard 
after yard of the slender cable. The man at the 
stern was Mr. Morse. At dawn the next day he 



THE CABLE 197 

was up, trying to send messages over the first sub- 
marine telegraph in the world. To his surprise, 
after transmitting a few words the wire ceased to 
do its work, and no wonder! a ship in the harbor 
had caught the cable with her anchor, the sailors 
had dragged it on deck, and not knowing what it 
was, cut out a piece of it and sailed away. 

Ten years later when an attempt was being 
made to establish electrical communication between 
the island of Newfoundland and the American 
continent, the idea of laying a cable across the 
Atlantic occurred to Mr. Cyrus W. Field. He 
consulted Mr. Morse, who encouraged him to 
undertake the work. Soundings had proved that 
there was in the ocean bed an almost level plateau 
between Newfoundland and Ireland. This would 
form a safe bed for the cable to rest on. A com- 
pany was formed to construct a trans-Atlantic 
cable. Mr. Morse was made the electrician of 
the company. 

The first difficulty lay in finding a perfectly 
waterproof cover for the wire, which would help to 
form a light and flexible but strong cable. Then 
came the question of laying the cable without 
breaking it. 

The first attempt was made in 1857. The cable 



198 



SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 




LONGITUDI- 
NAL SECTION 
OF CABLE 



then used was twenty-five hundred miles long. 

The wire was insulated by gutta percha, and that 

was protected by a twisted wire rope. ' ' The 

flexibility of this cable was so great that it could 

be made as manageable as a small 

rope, and was capable of being tied 

round the arm without injury. Its 

weight was but one thousand and 

eight hundred pounds to the mile, and 

its strength such that it would bear 

in water over six miles of its own 

length if suspended vertically." 

The greatest care was observed in running the 

cable off of the reel to see that there should be no 

strain upon it. But, in spite of the strength of 
the cable and the care and skill of those 
who laid it, the slender rope snapped 
and the cable so carefully made lay 
useless, at the bottom of the sea. 

Another company was organized, 
another cable was made, another expe- 
dition was fitted out. Another strand 

snapped, and another valuable cable was lost. 
The third attempt was partly successful. The 

cable was laid and for a few days gave good service. 

Then for some unaccountable reason it failed to 




VERTICAL 

SECTION OF 

CABLE 



THE INVENTOR AT HOME 199 

work. The fourth attempt was a failure, but the 
fifth, made in 1866, proved, to the satisfaction of 
all, that Samuel F. B. Morse did not exaggerate 
when he said it was possible to send an electrical 
current round the globe. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE INVENTOR AT HOME 

Mr. Morse was an artist and loved beauty. 
Through most of his life he had been obliged to 
deny himself beautiful things. He was a quiet, 
home-loving man. He had been so poor that he 
had not even a cottage home of his own. 

The first money he made from his telegraph was 
given to charity. As his fortune increased he 
decided to satisfy his desire for a beautiful home. 
He selected a picturesque grove on the Hudson 
River where he built a fine house which looked like 
an Italian villa. Because of the great locust trees 
growing there, he named his home Locust Grove. 

At this home Mr. Morse assembled the children 
(now grown up) from whom he had been so long 
separated; thither he brought his second wife; 
there he entertained the friends who had been 





m L 



1 ; -, •':■■;. j 
1* , i : ' 




ilg 

s 

fillfc 













i ' en 



* P 

in "2 

I o 



i-'ifflbK 



1 4»ufi 



THE INVENTOR AT HOME 201 

faithful in the old, toilsome days; there he received 
distinguished visitors from many lands. 

The inventor lived quietly and happily at Locust 
Grove. Sometimes, when he was an old man with 
snowy beard, he might be seen enjoying the sum- 
mer air under his fragrant trees while his grand- 
children played about him in the grass. But he 
liked best the great library where he had collected 
the books, the pictures, the statues which he had 
wanted so long. 

The latter part of his life was not, however, 
spent in seclusion. As his fortune grew, his 
social and business obligations increased. In the 
winter time he left Locust Grove and lived in a 
stately mansion in New York city. He was a man 
of importance and influence, well known throughout 
America and Europe. 

He died in 1872. 



THE STORY OF 

THOMAS A. EDISON 




THOMAS A. EDISON 



THOMAS A. EDISON 



CHAPTER I 

EARLY YEARS 



Often in America the children of humble parents 
have become distinguished men. Some have 
gained respect by their wise management of public 
affairs; some are honored because they led our 
armies to victory; and some are admired by reason 
of the beautiful stories and poems which they 
have written. A few men have earned the grati- 
tude of the people by adding to. the comfort and 
happiness of every-day life through their wonder- 
ful inventions. Of these last, Thomas Alva Edison 
is one of the best known examples. 

This great inventor may well be called a " self- 
made " man. His parents were humble people 
with only a few acquaintances and friends. The 
father was a hardy laboring man, who came from a 
family that worked hard and lived long. Mr. 
Edison made shingles with which to roof houses. 

205 



206 



THOMAS A. EDISON 



He made good shingles, too. At that time this 
work was not done by machinery, but by hand. 
Mr. Edison employed several workmen to help 
him. He was industrious and thrifty. 

When Thomas Edison was born, on the eleventh 
of February, eighteen forty-seven, the shingle- 




BIRTHPLACE OF THOMAS A. EDISON 



maker lived in Milan, a village in Erie county, Ohio. 
His home was a modest brick cottage on Choate 
avenue. The house was built on a bluff overlook- 
ing the valley where the Huron river flows, with 
the canal beside it. 



EARLY YEARS 207 

In harvest time the little village was a busy- 
place. All day huge farm wagons drawn by four 
or six horses rumbled along the dusty roads, carry- 
ing grain to the canal. For the farmers from far 
and near brought their grain to Milan to send it by 
canal to Lake Erie. Often as many as six hundred 
wagon loads of grain came to the village in a single 
day. The narrow canal was crowded with barges 
and sailing vessels which were being loaded with it. 

Little Thomas Edison was not content to watch 
this busy scene from his home on the hill. At a 
very early age he went with the older boys to have 
a closer view. He soon learned to go about the 
village, and, when he was no older than many chil- 
dren who are never allowed outside of the nurse's 
sight, he trotted about alone and felt very much at 
his ease among the farmers and rough workmen. 

Thomas was a serious looking child. He had a 
large head covered with a wayward shock of hair, 
which would not curl nor even part straight. He 
had a broad, smooth forehead, which was drawn 
into wrinkles when anything puzzled him. His 
big eyes looked out from beneath heavy brows, 
with wonder in childhood, with keenness when he 
grew older. Whenever his brow scowled, his thin 
lips were pressed tightly together. Even when the 



208 THOMAS A. EDISON 

child smiled his chin looked very square and firm. 
The strangers who noticed him said, not, ' ' What 
a pretty child," but, "What a smart-looking boy!" 

The father believed that the best thing he could 
do for his son was to train him to be industrious. 
The mother had been a school teacher. She 
considered an education an important part of a 
boy's preparation for life. Both parents began 
early to do what seemed to them their duty towards 
their son. His father required him to use his 
hands. His mother taught him to use his head. 

He was an eager pupil. An old man in Milan 
remembers seeing Edison, when he was a youngster 
in dresses, sitting upon the ground in front of a 
store, trying to copy the store sign on a board with 
a piece of chalk. He went to school very little. 
He could learn much faster at home, where he did 
not have to go through the formality of raising his 
hand every time he wanted to ask a question; he 
wanted to ask a great many. 

When Edison was still a mere child, a railroad 
was built through Milan. Then the farmers used 
the railroad instead of the canal for shipping their 
grain. For that reason there was less business in 
Milan than before the road was built. Many 
families that had done work in connection with the 



YOUTHFUL BUSINESS VENTURES 209 

canal moved away. The place became so dull that 
Mr. Edison found it hard to make a living there. 
Accordingly, when Thomas was seven years old, 
Mr. Edison moved his family to Port Huron, 
Michigan. 

Mr. Edison once said that his son had had no 
childhood. We have seen that as a child he was a 
little "sobersides," too busy getting acquainted 
with the world around him to care for play. As he 
grew older, his face lost its solemn look. He 
became an active fun-loving boy. But he differed 
from other boys in that he found his ' ' fun " in 
doing things which most boys would have called 
work. 



CHAPTER II 

YOUTHFUL BUSINESS VENTURES 

When Thomas, or Alva (he was called by his 
middle name during his boyhood) was twelve years 
of age, his father considered him old enough to 
earn his own living. He was therefore willing to 
have him take a position as train boy on the Grand 
Trunk Railroad. 



210 THOMAS A. EDISON 

Young Edison was just the person to enjoy a 
train boy's life. He was fitted to make a success 
of the business. Forward and self-confident, he 
had a pleasant, jovial manner which made him 
popular with strangers. He was quick-witted 
enough to say just the thing about his wares to 
amuse or interest the passengers. And he sold 
enough newspapers and sweetmeats to clear a good 
profit. 

Besides, he was shrewd an^i self-reliant. Find- 
ing that the sale of papers depended on the news 
they contained, he looked them over carefully 
before buying, and soon learned to judge accu- 
rately the number he could sell. 

The Civil War was then going on, and when 
there was exciting war news, papers were in great 
demand. One day he opened the paper and found 
an account of the battle of Pittsburg Landing. 
He said to himself, "I could sell a thousand of 
these papers, if I had them, and if the people at 
the stations only knew there had been a battle. " 
Here were two big "ifs, " but the boy promptly 
made up his mind how to overcome them. 

He went to the telegraph office and sent dis- 
patches to the towns at which his train stopped, 
announcing that a terrible battle had been fought. 



YOUTHFUL BUSINESS VENTURES 211 

He felt sure that the news would spread rapidly 
through the villages, and crowds would be at the 
stations waiting for the papers. 

He then went to the newspaper office and asked 
the business manager to sell him one thousand 
copies of the Detroit Free Press, on credit. The 
manager refused curtly. Nothing daunted the boy 
sought the office of the editor, Mr..W. F. Story. 
' ' I am the newsboy on the Grand Trunk Railroad, 
from Detroit to Port Huron, and I should like to 
have one thousand copies of to-day's ' Press, ' con- 
taining the account of the battle, " he said blandly. 
1 ' I have no money to pay for them, but I am sure 
I shall be able to pay you out of the proceeds of 
the day's sale." 

The editor looked at him in surprise. "And 
where do you expect to find purchasers for so 
many papers?" he asked. When he heard what 
the youth had done to secure his customers, he 
smiled and gave him an order for the papers. 

Edison was not mistaken; he found his papers 
in such demand that he was able to raise the price 
first to ten cents, then to twenty-five cents. He 
made what seemed to him a fortune out of the 
day's work. 

Profit in money was not, however, all that 



212 THOMAS A. EDISON 

Thomas Edison gained from his experience as 
train boy. The busy, varied life he led was in 
many ways an education to the active, wide-awake 
boy. While attending to his work he gave it his 
undivided attention. But when he had finished it, 
he dismissed it from his mind and interested him- 
self in other things. 

He learned a good deal about the country 
through which he traveled every day. Most boys 
are thoroughly well acquainted with the one town 
in which they live, but he knew Detroit as well as 
Port Huron, and was familiar with the geography 
and business of the country and villages between 
those cities. 

His train was a mixed train, made up of freight 
and passenger cars. The newsboy considered him- 
self a very important part of that train. He knew 
it from engine to caboose, and was on good terms 
with all the trainmen. Indeed, he felt an interest 
and pride not only in "my train," but in "my 
road, " as he called the Grand Trunk Railroad. He 
knew its officers, its trainmen, its station agents, 
the telegraph operators, and even the trackmen. 
He could always be depended upon for the latest 
railroad news either in the nature of business or 
personal gossip. 



YOUTHFUL BUSINESS VENTURES 213 

Finding that others were as much interested as 
he in what was going on along the road, but were 
slower in finding it out, he decided to print a rail- 
road newspaper. He got some old type from the 
office of the "Detroit Free Press" where he had 
made friends, and set up a printing office in the 
corner of a freight car. One half of the car was 
fitted up as a smoker, and the newsboy took pos- 
session of the unused half. There, when he had 
nothing else to do, he worked hard on a paper of 
which he was proprietor, editor, business manager, 
reporter, and printer. 

He issued his paper weekly and called it ' ' The 
Grand Trunk Herald." It was a small paper con- 
sisting of two sheets printed on one side only. It 
was poorly printed, and the grammar and punctua- 
tion were often faulty, but it contained much that 
was of interest to those who were connected 
with the railroad. Besides such business items as 
changes in time, the connections made with the 
train by stage coaches, and announcements of 
articles lost and found, it was filled with current 
railroad news and observations by the editor, which 
give us a good idea of the character and habits 
of the boy. Here are some extracts from the 
"Herald:" 



214 THOMAS A. EDISON 

"Heavy shipments at Baltimore; we were de- 
layed the other day at New Baltimore Station, 
waiting for a friend, and while waiting took upon 
ourselves to have a peep at things generally; we 
saw in the freight house of the G. T. R. 400 barrels 
of flour and 1 50 hogs waiting for shipment to Port- 
land. " 

' ' John Robinson, baggage master at James Creek 
Station, fell off the platform yesterday and hurt 
his leg. The boys are sorry for John. " 

' ' No. 3 Burlington engine has gone into the 
shed for repairs. " 

' ' The more to do the more done. We have 
observed along the line of railway at the different 
stations where there is only one Porter, such as at 
Utica, where he is fully engaged from morning until 
late at night, that he has everything clean and in 
first-class order, even on the platforms the snow 
does not lie for a week after it has fallen, but is 
swept off before it is almost down, at other stations, 
where there is two Porters, things are vice-versa. " 

"Premiums. We believe that the Grand Trunk 
Railway give premiums every six months to their 
engineers who use the least wood and oil running 
the usual journey. Now we have rode with Mr. 
E. L. Northrop, one of their engineers, and we do 



YOUTHFUL BUSINESS VENTURES 215 

not believe you could fall in with another engineer 
more careful or attentive to his engine, being the 
most steady driver that we have ever rode behind 
[and we consider ourselves some judge having 
been railway riding for over two years constantly] 
always kind and obliging and ever at his post. 
His engine we contend does not cost one fourth 
for repairs what the other engines do. We would 
respectfully recommend him to the kindest consid- 
eration of the G. T. R. officers." 

The good-natured self-importance of the young 
editor, with his pompous editorial ' ' We, " is amus- 
ing. But though the reader may smile at the 
fourteen-year-old boy's recommendation of the 
experienced engineer to the attention of the rail- 
road officer, he feels that the writer must have 
been a sensible boy and that, he knew what he was 
talking about. Edison's remarks about the well- 
kept station house show the boy's appreciation of 
order and punctual attention to duty. What he 
has to say is sensible and sincere, and it is not sur- 
prising that he found readers. 

He had over three hundred subscribers for his 
paper, at three cents a copy. Of course the readers 
of the ' ' Herald " were all railroad men. 

This little sheet gained some notoriety, however, 



216 THOMAS A. EDISON 

and was mentioned in a London paper as the only 
newspaper in the world published on a train. 

Edison's success with the "Herald" induced 
him to undertake to print a paper of more general 
interest. His second paper was called ' ' Paul Pry. " 
In this paper Edison used great freedom in express- 
ing opinions of men and things. On one occasion 
a personal paragraph in his paper so angered a 
reader, that, seeing the editor near the river, he 
gave him a good ducking. This severe punishment 
dampened the youthful editor's enthusiasm for jour- 
nalism, and he gave up the business a short time 
after the occurrence. 



CHAPTER III 

STUDY 

A boy who writes his ideas for others to read is 
pretty sure to be interested in reading what others 
have written. This was the case with Edison. 
He realized that there was a good deal in books that 
was worth knowing. He had no one to guide him 
in selecting his reading, but that did not trouble 
him. Life seemed long, and books were very little 
things. There was surely time enough for an 



STUDY 217 

industrious person to read them all. He deter- 
mined to begin with the Free Library of Detroit. 

He picked out a shelf of particularly large, wise- 
looking books and commenced reading. Among 
these books were: Gibbon's " Decline and Fall of 
the Roman Empire," Hume's " History of Eng- 
land," Burton's "Anatomy of Melancholy," and 
Newton's ' ' Principia. " 

A large part of the contents of these books was 
too advanced for the understanding of the young 
reader. Nevertheless he kept cheerfully at the 
task he had set himself, until he had finished all 
the books on a shelf fifteen feet long. 

He had learned a great many interesting facts 
from this difficult reading. _ But perhaps the most 
valuable lessons the experience taught him were 
about books. He had discovered for himself that 
it was both impossible and undesirable to read all 
books; that some had in them very little that was 
of value to him, and were not worth the time it took 
to read them, while others deserved the closest 
study. In fact he had become something of a 
critic, and was able to judge for himself whether a 
book would interest and help him. He did not 
stop reading when he had finished the shelf, but 
henceforth he chose his books with more care. 



218 THOMAS A. EDISON 

Some of the books that he read troubled him, 
because he could not wholly understand them, and 
he was always on the lookout for some one who 
knew enough to explain the difficulties to him. 
Other books filled his mind with new ideas and 
made him think very hard. An old chemistry 
excited him so much that he could think of nothing 
but the wonderful statements it contained about 
even such simple things as air, water, fire. He was 
curious to experiment with some of the strange ele- 
ments mentioned in it, such as oxygen, nitrogen, 
and hydrogen. Thomas Edison was not the boy 
to sit still and wonder when his curiosity was 
aroused. He thought it would be a fine thing to 
have a workroom or laboratory, all fitted out with 
materials and implements for making chemical 
experiments, and he determined to have one. 

His first step towards the realization of this 
ambition was to get acquainted with a chemist. 
The next, was to buy such second-hand apparatus 
as he could with the money he had saved, and get 
a few of the cheaper chemicals. These he arranged 
neatly in the corner of the freight car which was 
his newspaper office. The little bottles with their 
glass stopples and mysterious contents were exceed- 
ingly precious to him, and lest some one should 



STUDY 219 

meddle with them, he pasted poison labels on all 
of them. 

In his rude little laboratory the inventor made 
his first experiments. He found this a very fasci- 
nating pastime. He was willing to work hard, dress 
poorly, and eat plain food for the sake of his labo- 
ratory. Without a teacher, with only a book to 
instruct him, he experimented until he had learned 
the properties and powers of many chemical 
substances. 

He had accidents occasionally, for although he 
was careful, he worked under disadvantages on the 
jolting train. One day a bottle of phosphorus fell 
from its shelf and broke. The contents set the 
floor on fire. The fire was put out before it had 
done much injury; but the conductor was excited 
and angry. He said he would have no more of 
the dangerous stuff on his train. To be very sure 
that he would not, he threw the remaining bottles 
out of the car, and hurled after them not only all 
of the laboratory furnishings, but even the printing 
press. The owner protested with some spirit 
against the destruction of his property, whereupon 
the conductor seized him and pushed him out of 
the car. 

Edison had learned in his rough-and-tumble life 



220 THOMAS A. EDISON 

not to cry over spilt milk. It was discouraging to 
see the possessions he had collected with so much 
pains scattered by the roadside. But as soon as 
he had his fists unclinched the plucky fellow was 
ready to forgive the hasty conductor. ' ' The old 
chap got a bad scare, " he said to himself. ' 'After 
all it's a wonder he didn't throw my traps overboard 
long ago. " And he went to work picking up what 
was left of his printing shop and laboratory, plan- 
ning the while where he would re-open his shop. 
He decided that his father's cellar would be the 
safest place. Before many days, he had made 
good his loss by new purchases and had begun 
work on a larger scale than ever. 



CHAPTER IV 

A CHANGE OF BUSINESS 

Edison took up his train duties promptly, with- 
out any evidence of ill-feeling towards the conductor 
who had treated him so harshly. A few weeks 
after that unpleasant occurrence, the train stopped 
one morning at Mount Clemens, to take on some 
freight cars, which were waiting on the side track. 



A CHANGE OF BUSINESS 221 

As usual, the train boy, with his papers under 
his arm, was peering about the station house to see 
what was going on. Suddenly, as he looked 
around the corner, he saw the two-year-old son of 
the station agent, playing on the track, while the 
heavy freight car that was being backed down to 
the train, was almost upon him. Without a 
second's hesitation, the newsboy threw his papers 
to the ground and plunged forward to save the 
child. With one flying leap he seized the boy and 
cleared the track, falling on the gravel beyond, just 
out of reach of the wheels of the car. The bag- 
gage-master, who saw the act and thought that 
both boys would be killed, gave a shriek which 
brought every one around the station to the spot. 

When the child's father heard the story, he felt 
so grateful to the brave boy that he would have 
been glad to give him a rich reward. He was a poor 
man, however, and could not express his thanks in 
money. But there was one thing he could do, to 
better the boy's fortune. He was a good telegraph 
operator; he would teach young Edison telegraph- 
ing, and get him a position where he could earn 
twenty-five dollars a month. Taking the boy's 
hand, he said, "You have saved Jimmy's life, Al, 
and I'd like to show you how I feel about it. I 



222 THOMAS A. EDISON 

haven't anything to give you, but if you'll stop off 
here two or three nights in the week I'll teach you 
to telegraph and get you a good job. " 

Edison's face lighted up with pleasure. "I don't 
want any pay for pulling Jimmy out from under 
that freight car," he said loftily. "But I would 
like mighty well to learn to telegraph. Nothing 
better! If it suits you we'll begin to-night." 

The lessons were commenced at once and Mr. 
Mackenzie, the agent, found his work as instructor 
really pleasant at first. His pupil came regularly 
and made such surprising progress that it was a 
great satisfaction to teach him. But after a few 
days the train passed and "Al" did not get off. 
This happened several days in succession. Mr. 
Mackenzie felt disappointed. ' 'I declare he's like 
all the rest of them, " he mused. ' T thought he had 
some grit. But I've always noticed that when a 
boy is so quick and learns so fast, he never keeps 
at it." He was mistaken, however, that time. 

That very evening when the train came in, 
young Edison swung himself off with a beaming 
face. He carried a small package neatly tied up, 
which he was eager to show his friend. It proved 
to be a tiny telegraph instrument which he had 
made at a gunsmith's shop in Detroit. It was so 



A CHANGE OF BUSINESS 223 

small that it could be placed on a small envelope, 
yet it was perfectly complete, and worked well 
when tested. 

The young student in telegraphy had not lost 
interest, but he had come to a place where he 
could get along without a regular teacher. He was 
used to doing things in his own way and at his own 
time, and having received a good start from Mr. 
Mackenzie, was able to go on without much further 
help from him. He had made friends with many 
of the telegraph operators along the railroad. He 
now visited their offices to practice his art. He 
found them all interested in his progress and ready 
to give him a word of advice when he needed it. 
In three months' time he had so thoroughly mas- 
tered the business that Mr. Mackenzie said the boy 
knew enough to teach him. 

He was not satisfied with being able to work the 
instrument, to send and receive messages. His 
inquiring mind wanted to discover how the instru- 
ment worked and why. He immediately began to 
experiment with electricity in his cellar laboratory. 

With the help of a friend he constructed a short 
telegraph line of his own. At first he tried to obtain 
a current from a very curious dynamo. He had no- 
ticed the sparks that may be produced by stroking 



224 THOMAS A. EDISON 

a cat. Half in fun, and half in earnest, he got two 
large black cats and tried with much rubbing to 
create an electrical current, but was obliged to 
resort to the ordinary battery. 

Edison gave up his position as train boy and 
spent most of his time at the Western Union 
Telegraph office in Port Huron. When there was 
more work to do than usual, or when one of the 
regular operators was not at his post, Edison was 
hired to work for a short time. He did good work 
and was soon given a regular position at a salary of 
twenty-five dollars a month, with the promise of. 
additional pay for extra work. 



CHAPTER V 

THE BOY TELEGRAPH OPERATOR 

Edison worked faithfully in his new position. 
He did extra work and did it well. But he waited 
in vain for the extra pay that had been promised 
him for taking long reports and working out of 
hours. When he found that the man who employed 
him did not keep his word, he gave up his position. 
Mr. Mackenzie soon got him a situation as night 
operator at Stratford, in Canada. 



THE BOY TELEGRAPH OPERATOR 225 

So far as ability to send and receive messages 
went, Edison was perfectly capable of filling the 
place. But he was by no means the slow, faithful, 
unquestioning, obedient agent to leave in charge of 
a telegraph office at night. He was a mere boy, 
only fifteen years of age, and had had no training 
in working under orders. He could not obey regu- 
lations which seemed to him useless, and he some- 
times thought he could improve on the directions 
given him. There was no danger of his neglecting 
his duty through idleness, but he might neglect it 
while working out some pet notion of his own. 

The manager of the circuit realized that the 
night operators might be tempted to shirk their 
work, and so he required them to telegraph a signal 
to him every half hour in order that he might be 
sure they were awake and at their posts. Edison's 
signal was six. 

This was a wise regulation, but Edison did not 
appreciate the necessity for it. He found it a great 
bother to keep his eye on the clock and leave his 
reading or some experiment that he was working 
out in the quiet hours of night, to report that stupid 
" six " every thirty minutes. He wondered if he 
couldn't make a machine attached to the clock that 
would save him the trouble. After a good deal of 



226 THOMAS A. EDISON 

thinking and experimenting, he fitted up an instru- 
ment that could telegraph "six" as well as he 
could. 

This was a great relief to him, and he felt 
free to do what he liked with his time without 
much fear of discovery. He even left the office 
and made expeditions about town. 

One night while he was away, the manager tried 
to call him up but could get no response. He 
thought this odd as Edison was more punctual with 
his signals than any other operator on the line. He 
waited, then tried again and again, with no better 
success, though the signals came with their accus- 
tomed regularity. He made an investigation, and 
the young inventor received a severe reprimand for 
his clever contrivance. 

His next offense came near having serious 
results. He had orders to deliver messages to 
trains before reporting them back to the dispatcher. 
One evening, because it seemed easier to do so, he 
reversed the order and returned the message before 
delivering it. Then he heard the engine bell ring 
for the train to start. He jumped up in a hurry, 
but when he got to the platform, the train was well 
in motion. The message was an order for the train 
to wait at a switch until a special had passed. He 



THE BOY TELEGRAPH OPERATOR 227 

ran frantically after the train hoping he might catch 
it at the freight depot, but he could not overtake it. 

He ran swiftly back to telegraph his error to the 
dispatcher, only to learn that it was too late to 
warn the other train. Now because of his disobe- 
dience two great trains were rushing towards each 
other on the same track. That was a terrible hour 
for the poor boy. There were chances that the 
engineers would see each other's engines in time to 
prevent a wreck; but there were chances that 
they would not. It was frightful to think of the 
misery and loss he might be responsible for. 

The watchfulness of the engineers prevented a 
collision. When the special came thundering up 
the track safe and sound, Edison knew that the 
danger was over. His disobedience had brought 
no harm to others, but he felt sure that he would 
hear more of it. 

Nor was he mistaken. The superintendent called 
him to his office and frightened him with threats 
of imprisonment. He left town on the next train 
without even collecting the money due him for his 
services. 

His experience at Stratford had been unfortunate 
perhaps, but he was a better operator because of 
it. He had not only gained in skill, but had 



228 THOMAS A. EDISON 

learned the importance of obedience in little 
things. 

He spent a few weeks at home out of work. One 
day when he was down by the St. Clair river, 
watching the ice which was breaking and piling up 
across the stream, word came that the electric 
cable between Port Huron and Sarnia, the Cana- 
dian city on the opposite side of the river, had 
been broken by the ice jam. There was no bridge; 
the ferryboat could not run on the ice-blocked 
river; with the cable broken all communication 
between the places was stopped. 

Edison saw a locomotive standing on a track near 
by, and a thought struck him. He jumped aboard 
her and whistled a greeting to Sarnia, making 
short toots for the dots and long toots for the 
dashes. He repeated his message several times. 
At last the trained ear of the old operator in Sarnia 
recognized the familiar signals of the Morse alpha- 
bet, and with the help of an engine whistle, sent a 
reply across the impassable river. 

This little incident was very much talked about. 
People began to say that Thomas Edison was most 
ingenious. 

Good telegraph operators were hard to get, and 
Edison was not long without a position. 



TELEGRAPHER AND INVENTOR 229 
CHAPTER VI 

TELEGRAPHER AND INVENTOR 

Edison was not a dreamer. He may have had 
vague notions of doing something great in the dis- 
tant future, but they did not interfere with the 
accomplishment of his practical, definite ideas. 
Having become a telegraph operator, his modest 
ambition was to be a good one. More than that, 
he wanted to be able to receive ' ' press reports. " 
That is, he wanted to be able to work so fast that 
he could handle the long dispatches sent to the 
newspapers. 

That was not an easy task. Indeed for a while 
he gave up hope of being able to keep up with the 
clickings of an expert sender, without the help of 
some mechanical device. If he could only find a 
way to make those confusing dots and dashes come 
more slowly! 

His busy brain and nimble fingers working 
together, soon discovered a way to do this. He 
contrived a repeating receiver, which recorded the 
message as rapidly as the best sender could send 
it, and repeated it as slowly as the poorest receiver 
could wish. 



230 THOMAS A. EDISON 

When this repeater was ( in working order, Edi- 
son secured an engagement to take some press- 
report work. He told the sender to " rush" him. 
The man did so, but no matter how rapidly he 
worked, he did not seem to be able to confuse the 
marvelous receiver. Edison was meanwhile copy- 
ing slowly from his faithful repeater. He was 
able in this way to hand in beautifully written, 
unscratched, and unblotted sheets of report, which 
aroused the astonishment and admiration of all 
who saw them. 

Soon, however, a report came in that had to be 
delivered immediately. Then the inventor was in 
difficulty, and had to admit that he was not such a 
fast receiver as he seemed. 

To invent the repeater, required a higher order 
of mind perhaps, than was necessary to receive 
messages rapidly. But Edison felt no pride in 
that achievement. His object was to be a rapid 
receiver and nothing else would satisfy him. 

He next made a series of thorough experiments 
in penmanship, to discover which was the most 
rapid style of writing. After a long and careful 
examination he decided on the clear, round, 
upright characters which he used all the rest of 
his life. It is interesting to notice that this youth 



TELEGRAPHER AND INVENTOR 231 

was about thirty years ahead of the writing teachers 
in adopting the beautiful vertical writing, which is 
taught in many schools to-day. 

Obliged to give up press-report work until he 
had gained greater skill, Edison devoted his time 
to practicing as the only means of acquiring the 
speed he desired. He worked all day and, when- 
ever he could get employment, all night, snatching 
bits of sleep when he could. His constant dili- 
gence soon enabled him to work so fast that he was 
put at one end of a line worked by a Louisville 
operator, who was one of the fastest senders in the 
country. His experience at that wire made him as 
expert as even he desired to be. 

But he was not ready to sit down to rest. As 
soon as one thing became easy for Edison he 
always began working on something else. 

While at Memphis, he constructed an instrument 
called an automatic repeater, which made it pos- 
sible to connect separate telegraph lines in such a 
way as to transfer messages from one wire to the 
other without the aid of an operator. 

He then began to try to discover how two mes- 
sages might be sent over the same wire at the same 
time. He spent a large part of his time reading 
and experimenting with this end in view. 



233 THOMAS A. EDISON 

His fellow operators laughed at him and called 
him the ' ' luny, " because he had so many ' 'queer 
notions" and did not care for the things they 
enjoyed. He worked constantly, dressed shabbily, 
and spent most of his money for scientific books 
and materials with which to make experiments. 
His gay comrades liked him in spite of his pecu- 
liarities. He was ready with jokes and funny 
stories, and could be depended on to lend an 
empty-pocketed friend a dollar in the days of 
scarcity which usually preceded pay day. 

His employers were often impatient with him. 
They thought it strange that a young man who 
could telegraph so well, was not content to do it, 
but must needs neglect his work, while he wasted 
time and kept the office in confusion with some 
impossible scheme. 

This is the reason that for five years Edison 
roamed from town to town, through the central 
states, never having much trouble to get a place 
because he was such a good operator, and never 
keeping one long because he could not overcome 
his impulse to invent. 

During those five years he suffered a good many 
hardships and formed very irregular habits of 
work, often studying and working all night long. 



IN BOSTON 233 

But while many of his comrades fell into evil ways, 
Edison lived a clean, straight life. This was one 
reason why he was able to work so hard without 
injuring his health. 



CHAPTER VII 

IN BOSTON 



Edison had a friend in Boston. This man urged 
him to come East. He said that he would receive 
a better salary and have greater opportunities for 
study and invention. When a vacancy occurred 
in the Boston office, he recommended Edison for 
the place. And so it happened that when Edison 
was twenty-one years old, he was called to the 
great city of Boston. 

Here is the account the inventor himself gives of 
his first appearance in the Boston telegraph office: 

' ' I had been four days and nights on the road, 
and, having had very little sleep, did not present a 
very fresh or stylish appearance, especially as com- 
pared to the operators of the East, who were far 
more dressy than their brethren of the West. The 
manager asked me when I was ready to go to 



234 THOMAS A. EDISON 

work. ' Now, ' I replied. I was then told to 
return at 5:50 p. m. , and punctually at that hour I 
entered the main operating rooms, and was intro- 
duced to the night manager. My peculiar appear- 
ance caused much mirth, and, as I afterwards 
learnt, the night operators consulted together how 
they might 'put a job on the jay from the woolly 
West.' I was given a pen and assigned the New 
York No. 1 wire. 

' ' After waiting upwards of one hour I was told to 
come over to a special table, and take a special 
report for the Boston Herald, the conspirators 
having arranged to have one of the fastest send- 
ers in New York to send the dispatch and 'salt' 
the new man. I sat down unsuspiciously at the 
table and the New York man started slowly. I 
had long since perfected myself in a simple and 
rapid style of handwriting, devoid of flourishes, 
and susceptible of being increased from forty-five 
to fifty-four words a minute by gradually reduc- 
ing the size of the lettering. This was several 
words faster than any other operator in the United 
States. 

' ' Soon the New York man increased his speed, 
to which I easily adapted my pace. This put my 
rival on his mettle, and he put on his best powers, 



IN BOSTON 235 

which, however, were soon reached. At this 
point I happened to look up, and saw the 
operators all looking over my shoulder, with their 
faces shining with fun and excitement I knew then 
that they were trying to put a job on me, but kept 
my own counsel and went on placidly with my work, 
even sharpening a pencil at intervals, by way of 
extra aggravation. 

"The New York man then commenced to slur 
over his words, running them together, and 
sticking the signals; but I had been used to this 
style of telegraphy in taking reports and was not 
in the least discomfited. Finally when I thought 
the fun had gone far enough, and having about 
completed the special, I quietly opened the key 
and remarked, ' Say, yOung man, change off, and 
send with your other foot. ' This broke the New 
York man all up, and he turned the job over to 
another man to finish." 

Men are usually ready to respect real merit. 
Edison's fellow-workers, on discovering his ability, 
gave the new comer a cordial welcome among 
them, in spite of his careless dress. 

But better even than that, Edison found his new 
employer to be a man of high intelligence. He 
could talk over his ideas with him without fear 



236 THOMAS A. EDISON 

of being called a "limy." It was a new pleasure 
to the young man to find sympathy and apprecia- 
tion concerning the questions that were of the 
highest interest to him. 

The Boston Public Library furnished him with 
valuable works which he had not been able to 
obtain in the West. He met men of scientific 
learning and came in contact with highly skilled 
artisans. 

Everything in his new life stimulated his 
ambition and encouraged him to attempt 
great things. Much of the time he felt as 
he expressed it one morning to a friend: "I've 
got so much to do and life is so short, I'm going 
to hustle." 

His regular work occupied the night hours. That 
left the day free. He spent as few as possible of 
the precious hours in sleep. Having found that 
he could not carry on his experiments in the tele- 
graph office here, as he had so often done in the 
West, he opened a small shop of his own. In that 
shop he spent a large part of each day. Some- 
times he devoted all of his time to working on his 
own inventions. Again, he took orders and did 
work for others. 

He became known in Boston as an authority on 



IN BOSTON 237 

electricity, and was even invited to speak on the 
subject before a school of young women. 

He was especially interested at this time in 
inventing an electrical instrument for recording 
votes in a great assembly like the House of Repre- 
sentatives. He made an excellent machine that 
did its work faultlessly, and had it patented. After 
all his labor and expense he found that legislative 
bodies did not care for such an accurate and speedy 
vote recorder. His invention was useless. This was 
a bitter disappointment to him and he did not for- 
get the lesson it taught him: never invent anything 
without first finding out whether it is needed. 

Having failed with his vote recorder because of 
his ignorance of parliamentary customs, he returned 
to the familiar field of telegraphy and once more 
tried to solve the problem of sending two messages 
over a wire at one time. There was no doubt that 
a contrivance which would make that possible would 
be in demand. 

He progressed so well with his experiments 
that in 1869 he was ready to make a trial of his 
invention on a large scale. 

At this time his engagement with the Western 
Union Telegraph Company being completed, he 
resolved to go to New York. 



238 THOMAS A. EDISON 

CHAPTER VIII 

RECOGNIZED AS AN ELECTRICIAN 

Edison's stay in Boston had been pleasant and 
profitable in many ways, but he felt more and more 
that New York, the great center of the American 
business world, was the city of opportunity. 

He arrived there with no work and no money. 
For although he had been a hard worker while in 
Boston, he had spent so much on experiments and 
inventions that he was heavily in debt. He did 
not feel worried for the future, however. He had 
the greatest confidence in himself and in electricity. 
He knew that electricity could be made to do mar- 
velous things and that few men knew so well as he 
how to make it do them. 

Failing to get employment in a telegraph office 
as he had hoped to do, he wandered about, visiting 
the various establishments maintained in connection 
with electrical enterprises, in the hope of finding 
some work. One day as he approached the office 
of Laws' Gold Reporting Telegraph Company, he 
noticed an excited crowd of men and messenger 
boys around the entrance. Coming nearer, he 
learned that there was something wrong with the 



RECOGNIZED AS AN ELECTRICIAN 239 

electrical instrument which sent the market reports 
to the brokers' offices, and that if it was not rem- 
edied at once, many business men would lose 
heavily. 

He made his way quietly and quickly into the 
office where he found Mr. Laws almost distracted 
with anxiety. The apparatus refused to work, and 
he was so nervous and excited that he could not 
find what the trouble was. Edison went up, and 
introducing himself as an electrician, made a rapid 
but careful investigation. He had been working 
on an invention somewhat similar and understood 
the instrument perfectly. He discovered the dif- 
ficulty and corrected it while Mr. Laws looked on 
in admiration. His sure, swift movements showed 
his familiarity with the complicated and delicate 
mechanism. 

This performance won the respect of Mr. Laws 
as completely as the rapid telegraphing had secured 
the esteem of the Boston operators. Mr. Laws 
not only felt grateful, but he immediately recog- 
nized in Edison a man whose services were worth 
having. This incident led to Edison's obtaining 
regular employment under Mr. Laws at a salary of 
three hundred dollars a month. 

Having accomplished his boyish ambition to be 



240 THOMAS A. EDISON 

an expert telegraph operator, Edison, at the age 
of twenty-two gave up that business and started 
out in a broader field of work. He began at once 
to make improvements in the machine used by the 
company he served. Before long he invented a 
new and better instrument to take its place. 

His next important step was to enter the service 
of the Gold and Stock Telegraph Company. Edi- 
son made numerous inventions in connection with 
the apparatus used by this company. The company 
considered them so valuable that it offered to buy 
them all. When the committee representing the 
company asked Edison how much he would take 
for his inventions he replied that he did not know 
what they were worth. He asked what the com- 
pany was willing to give him. He had decided to 
accept if offered five thousand dollars. Imagine 
his surprise when offered forty thousand dollars. 

The young man was not long in deciding how to 
spend his unexpectedly acquired fortune. With it 
he equipped a larger and more elaborate shop 
than he had ever had. He now had room, imple- 
ments, and assistants for working out the schemes 
which had been simmering in his head ever since 
he was a hoy. 

He accomplished so much that he began to be 



INVENTOR AND MANUFACTURER 241 

looked upon as a wonder. The Western Union 
Telegraph Company and the Gold and Stock Tele- 
graph Company feared that rival companies would 
obtain the use of his patents. So they paid him a 
large salary to give them the option on all of his 
telegraphic inventions. This made it possible for 
Edison to devote his entire time to the work he 
loved: to making machines which would do well 
the work which existing machines did poorly. 



CHAPTER IX 

INVENTOR AND MANUFACTURER 

Edison opened a large laboratory and factory in 
Newark, New Jersey. There he employed three 
hundred men to assist him in his experiments and 
to make the contrivances which he invented. 

This was a more serious responsibility than he 
had yet undertaken. It was one thing to tinker 
away by himself and work out his ideas with his 
own skillful hands, and quite another to manage 
and direct three hundred men. 

He was not, however, ignorant of human nature. 
Even when a newsboy he had been busy getting 



242 



THOMAS A. EDISON 



acquainted with people and learning to influence 
them so they would do as he wished. 

In his factory his manner toward his men was 
friendly and boyishly unconstrained. There was 
little formality between employer and employes; 




PATENT OFFICE AT WASHINGTON 

his men were not afraid of the "boss." He 
depended on their interest and good-will, rather 
than obedience to rigid rules, for the best results. 
His big factory was managed with a surprising 



INVENTOR AND MANUFACTURER 243 

lack of regularity. If he was anxious to have a 
piece of work finished all hands were kept over 
hours. When things went well and some impor- 
tant undertaking was completed, there was a frag- 
ment of a holiday. 

It is said that when a man asked Edison to what 
he owed his success, he replied, " To never looking 
at the clock." He expected from his men some- 
thing of the same indifference to time and absorp- 
tion in work that he had always shown. 

On one occasion, when an instrument did not 
give satisfaction and he could not find what was 
wrong, he took half a dozen of his most able assist- 
ants with him to an upper room, saying, " We will 
stay there until this thing is straightened out." 
They worked there sixty hours, and at the end of 
that time came out of their voluntary prison tired, 
but satisfied and successful. 

If Edison demanded a good deal of his men, he 
was more severe with himself. Many and many a 
time, after a day's work, he sat all night in his 
private office or laboratory studying out some 
baffling problem. 

He was very much beloved by his workmen, and 
if he came back from a business trip to New York, 
with his boyish face all aglow with satisfaction, and 



244 THOMAS A. EDISON 

tossed his silk hat up to the ceiling with a cheer for 
the invention he had just sold, a wave of good 
feeling and hilarity spread over the whole estab- 
lishment. 

It was in the first year of his life at Newark that 
Edison married. After a brief and business-like 
courtship, he married Miss Mary Stillwell, a young 
woman employed in his factory. He carried his 
enthusiasm for electricity even into his home and 
nicknamed his first two children "Dot" and 
"Dash," from the signals of the telegraph. 

In money matters Edison was as reckless as in 
his expense of time. He employed no bookkeeper, 
and paid his bills with notes. He rarely knew 
whether he was in debt or had a surplus on hand. 
In his view, money was merely a means for carrying 
on the work that was for him the one important 
thing in life, and he rarely worried about it. He 
had good reason to have a feeling of security; for 
it is said that before leaving Newark, he had at one 
time forty-five distinct inventions in varying stages 
of completion, and, that the profit arising from their 
sale amounted to four hundred thousand dollars. 

His most important achievement at Newark 
was the perfecting of the quadruplex telegraph, by 
means of which not only two but four messages 



"THE WIZARD OF MENLO PARK" 245 

could be sent over one wire at the same instant. 
Besides this, so many minor inventions were com- 
pleted that Edison was called ' ' The young man 
who keeps the path to the patent office hot with 
his footsteps." 



CHAPTER X 

"THE WIZARD OF MENLO PARK" 

It is probable that when Edison opened his 
laboratory at Newark he felt that it would be some 
time before he outgrew that. In 1876, however, 
his work as an inventor had developed so wonder- 
fully that he decided to give up manufacturing and 
devote his time wholly to inventing. 

He needed a more extensive laboratory, one 
situated in a place so out of the way of public 
travel that he would not have many visitors. For 
the site of his new laboratory, he chose Menlo 
Park. The name has since come to be so closely 
associated with Edison that when we hear it men- 
tioned we think of the phonograph, the telephone, 
the electric light, and all of the great inventions 
which were worked out there. 



246 THOMAS A. EDISON 

It was a quiet spot, about an hour's ride by rail- 
road from New York city, where the inventor was 
frequently called on business. Here in an open 
expanse Edison had a modest dwelling and a vast 
laboratory erected. 

This laboratory, a plain white frame structure 
was far from being a handsome building. Its 
owner's only wish was to have it spacious, well- 
lighted and convenient. He spared no cost in 
fitting it up with the most improved mechanical 
apparatus for experimenting. He had a powerful 
engine to supply the force needed. 

The workshop, a room one hundred feet long, 
was enough to delight the heart of a lover of fine 
machinery. There were great whirring, buzzing 
wheels, endless belts of strongest leather, beauti- 
fully finished lathes, milling machines, drills, and 
planers. There were all sorts of electrical machin- 
ery, splendidly made and kept bright and shining. 
But there were no electric lights and no tele- 
phone in the great laboratory unless, perhaps, in 
the mind of the inventor. 

Upstairs was a chemical laboratory, a laboratory 
far beyond the brightest dreams of the newsboy on 
the Grand Trunk Railroad. Its walls were lined 
with shelves laden with rows of mysterious jars 



"THE WIZARD OF MENLO PARK" 247 

and bottles. The inventor made it a rule to keep 
at hand some of every chemical substance known. 




IN THE LABORATORY 



There were blowpipes, retorts, test tubes, and flasks 
without number. 

Besides these rooms, there was a library. It 



248 THOMAS A. EDISON 

was a large one well filled with standard and 
modern scientific works. 

There was a small band of well organized work- 
ers at Menlo Park. It included skilled mechanics, 
with a director at their head; scientific experi- 
menters, with a scholarly professor at their head; 
a mathematician, a private secretary, and even a 
bookkeeper. 

Guiding and controlling all, was Edison, the 
wonder worker, who could catch the lightning and 
hold it imprisoned in tiny glass globes, who could 
make it possible for one man to hear another talk- 
ing hundreds of miles away, who could measure 
the heat of the stars, who could make a machine 
that would talk and sing and laugh like a human 
voice. 

This man of almost magical powers, who worked 
at all hours of the night in the lonely laboratory, 
whence the sound of explosions, and flashes of 
light more brilliant than sunlight, often issued, 
began to be regarded almost with a feeling of 
awe. People called him the "Wizard of Menlo 
Park." 

To those who worked with Mr. Edison, there 
was nothing awe-inspiring about him. He was not 
in the least spoiled by his success. He respected 



«THE WIZARD OF MENLO PARK" 249 

all parts of the work to which he had given his 
devotion, and the man who did the humblest por- 
tion of it well, was esteemed by him. He was not 
afraid of hard work himself, and although he had 
competent men to manage the business for him, 
always took an active part in the affairs of the 
shop. He went about in rusty work clothes 
stained with acids, and with hands discolored and 
scarred, inspecting everything, and lending a hand 
where things were not going just as he wished. 
Menlo Park was no place for a man who did not 
love his work so much that he could forget his 
personal appearance and comfort while busy. 

On one occasion a new man refused to perform 
a task which Mr. Edison had directed him to do. 
He said that he had not accepted the position 
with a view of becoming a manual laborer. Mr. 
Edison with extreme courtesy begged his pardon, 
for having made an unreasonable request, and 
then did the work himself. That made the young 
man feel uncomfortable, but it taught him the 
lesson which all of Mr. Edison's employes had to 
learn sooner or later — the lesson of self-forgetful- 
ness in work. 

In the management of his business Mr. Edison 
had conformed in many ways to ordinary business 



250 THOMAS A. EDISON 

methods. But hours at Menlo Park were almost 
as irregular as at Newark. The inventor could not 
get over the belief that the man who never got so 
interested in his work that he failed to hear the 
twelve o'clock whistle at noon, or the six o'clock 
whistle at night, was a poor sort of fellow. For his 
own part, he had not outgrown his independence of 
the clock. 

As the years passed, the inventor's mind lost 
nothing of its youthful activity. He found it easy 
to keep every one in the big laboratory busy work- 
ing out his ideas. Whenever he thought of a pos- 
sible improvement in one of his own inventions, or 
in a contrivance made by some one else, he made 
a note of it in a thick blank book. When one 
piece of work was finished this book always sug- 
gested innumerable ideas for further undertakings. 

Sometimes Edison's inventions were pushed for- 
ward with amazing rapidity. An idea would occur 
to him in the morning. His draughtsmen would 
draw up the plans for it, and the workmen would 
make it in a single day. 

He tells an incident to show how quickly he was 
able to transact patent business, not only at Wash- 
ington, but in London: He made a discovery at 
four in the afternoon, telegraphed to his solicitor, 



INVENTIONS 251 

and had him draw up the necessary specifications 
at once. Then he cabled to London, an applica- 
tion for a patent, and before he arose next morn- 
ing received word that his application had been 
filed in the English patent office. To understand 
this speedy transaction, we must remember that 
while it was early morning at Menlo Park it was 
noonday at London. 



CHAPTER XI 



INVENTIONS 



While numerous small inventions were thought 
of, made, and patented in an almost incredibly 
short space of time, you must not think that 
Edison never had any hindrances or difficulties. 
There were inventions on which he and his assist- 
ants labored for years, spending tens of thousands 
of dollars before reaching satisfactory results. 

It would take too long to name all of Edison's 
inventions, and it would be impossible to describe 
them all. There are very few departments 
of electrical invention to which he has not con- 
tributed something. The electric railroad and the 



252 



THOMAS A. EDISON 



automobile have received a share of his thought. 
His telephone; the megaphone, which carries the 
sound of the voice great distances without the help 




c 




of wires; the quadruplex telegraph; the tasimeter, 
which measures the heat of the stars; or the kinet- 



INVENTIONS 253 

oscope, — any one of them would have made the 
inventor famous. But he is perhaps best known 
by the invention of the incandescent electric light 
and the phonograph. 

Every American boy and girl has Edison's name 
closely associated with the brilliant little globes of 
light which are seen by thousands along city streets, 
in churches, in theaters, in public halls, and even 
in private dwellings. 

A traveler in far off Egypt asked an ignorant 
donkey boy if he had ever heard of the President 
of the United States. He had not. He next 
asked if he had ever heard of Edison. With a 
nod of intelligence the boy pointed to the electric 
light before the door of the hotel for answer. 

Edison once said that the electric light had cost 
him more time, anxiety, and expense than any 
other invention. It was, however, the invention 
which made him independently rich. 

The principle of the light is simple. When an 
electric current passes from a good conductor to a 
poor one it causes heat. That a bright light might 
be obtained by non-conducting substances heated 
in this way, had been known for many years, but no 
one before Edison was able to turn the knowledge 
to practical use. 



254 THOMAS A. EDISON 

Even Edison found it extremely difficult to make 
an inexpensive, durable, and strong light. The 
greatest difficulty was to find a non-conducting 
filament strong enough to endure, and slight 
enough to be heated to a white glow with a mod- 
erate charge of electricity. 

Those will never forget it, who were present at 
Menlo Park when the search for the filament was 
begun. Experiment after experiment failed, while 
the "wizard," growing only more wide awake and 
resolute, begged his associates, "Let us make 
one before we sleep." 

Expeditions were made to Japan, India, Africa, 
and South America in search of the best possible 
material for the filament. 

Men were unwilling to believe that the incandes- 
cent electric light could be used extensively for 
illuminating purposes. But in the winter of 1880, 
a public exhibit of the new invention was given at 
Menlo Park. The streets and trees were bril- 
liantly lighted, and the laboratory was aglow inside 
and out with the dazzling white lights. Special 
trains were run to Menlo Park. Hundreds of 
people went to see the novel spectacle and all who 
saw were convinced that the incandescent light 
was a success. 



INVENTIONS 255 

The phonograph, while not so familiar to us as 
the electric light, arouses our wonder even more. 
You have perhaps heard that sound is made by 
vibrations of air. You have shouted in a bare room 
and heard the echo of your words come back with 
startling distinctness. The wall received the vibra- 
tions and sent back other vibrations making sim- 
ilar but somewhat blurred sounds. This repetition 
of the vibrations to get a repetition of sound is the 
principle on which the phonograph is based. 

Edison gives an interesting account of the dawn- 
ing of the idea in his mind. He says: "I was 
singing to the mouthpiece of a telephone, when the 
vibrations of the voice sent the fine steel point into 
my finger. That set me to thinking. If I could 
record the actions of the point and send the point 
over the same surface afterward, I saw no reason 
why the thing would not talk. I tried the experi- 
ment first on a strip of telegraph paper, and found 
that the point made an alphabet. I shouted the 
words 'Halloo! Halloo!' into the mouthpiece, ran 
the paper back over the steel point, and heard a 
faint 'Halloo! Halloo!' in return. I determined 
to make a machine that would work accurately, 
and gave my assistants instructions, telling them 
what I had discovered." 



256 THOMAS A. EDISON 

CHAPTER XII 

AT ORANGE, NEW JERSEY 

In 1886 a new laboratory was built at Orange, 
New Jersey. This laboratory is so large that it 
makes its famous predecessor at Menlo Park seem 
small and insignificant, by comparison. The equip- 




THE LABORATORY AT ORANGE 

ment is complete for carrying on all sorts of experi- 
ments from those relating to the kinetograph to 
those in connection with the magnetic-ore sep- 
arator. 



AT ORANGE, NEW JERSEY 



257 



In building his laboratory the inventor remem- 
bered to provide in many ways for the comfort and 
pleasure of the men whom he employed. At the 
top of the building there is a large lecture hall. 
There the men often assemble to listen to scientific 




A CORNER IN THE LIBRARY 



lectures given by the best scholars and lecturers in 
the country. 

The library, with its wealth of books, is an 
attractive room. Mr. Edison cares little for luxury 
or ease, and this room was at first as plain as the 
rest of the building. But on his forty-second birth- 



258 THOMAS A. EDISON 

day his men surprised him by introducing into his 
library some of the comforts he never thought of 
providing for himself. Rugs, easy chairs, tables, 
pictures, even plants were used to give the room 
an air of comfort and beauty. 

In this room the inventor sometimes sits, not 
reading at his ease, but surrounded by great stacks 
of books on some particular subject, glancing 
eagerly through one volume after another as if his 
life depended on his mastering their contents within 
a given time. He respects books as the record of 
the labor of other students and scientists. But he 
is often disappointed in them; he says, " Some way 
I never find just what I want in books." 

During his early manhood, Edison contributed 
little in person to the social side of life. He 
believed that in his inventions he gave to the world 
the best part of himself. Society accepted the 
inventions but was not satisfied. Men in'sist on 
considering a man greater than any machine he 
may make. Everything Edison did only made 
people more anxious to see and know him. For a 
long time he rebuffed all efforts of the public to 
make a hero of him. When an attempt was made 
to give a dinner in honor of the great inventor he 
refused to be present saying: " One hundred thou- 



AT ORANGE, NEW JERSEY 



259 



sand dollars would not tempt me to sit through two 
hours of personal glorification. " 

Efforts have been made to induce him to talk 
into one of his phonographs. But he refuses 
emphatically, declaring, "It would make me sick 
with disgust to see on every corner, ' Put a nickel 
in the slot and hear Edison talk. 




EDISON S HOME IN LLEWELLYN PARK 

He has not worked in order that he may at one 
time live without work. He says that his highest 
pleasure is in work and he looks forward to no sea- 
son of rest. Although he is so devoted to his work, 



260 THOMAS A. EDISON ^, 



Edison's life is not void of brightness. He r 



rle is one 

of the most joyous men in the world. Failures and 
disappointments, he has accepted through life as 
philosophically as he did the destruction of his first 
laboratory by the angry railroad conductor. 

He has the rare ability of transferring his atten- 
tion quickly from one thing to another. When 
exhausted with work, he will dash out of his office, 
tell a funny story, have a good laugh with a friend, 
and in five minutes be as hard at work as ever. 
He keeps an organ in his library on which he has 
taught himself to play a few of his favorite airs, 
and this often affords him a few minutes, refresh- 
ment in the midst of hours of close study. 

His work never loses its charm; he is always 
engaged in some novel and interesting experiment. 
Within the last few years, however, he has 
admitted some pleasures into his life not directly 
connected with his work. Mr. Edison has traveled 
extensively in America and in Europe and been 
:eceived with high honors everywhere. His firs 
vife having died, he married again, and bought : 
Deautiful and luxurious home in Llewellyn Park, 
lear Orange, New Jersey. 



C 82 89 m 








Vv 








